How Will Resumed Schooling Be Like After Lockdown Ends?

Lockdown may not seem like ending in the near future, but it will, one day. And when it does, schools, colleges and institutions will open like before. But it won’t be entirely like before.

Things will be different. Very much different than earlier. Here are the things I think will change.

I feel they won’t allow us to sit with our friends anymore. Okay, we could even manage sitting with someone else other than friends, but imagine sitting alone throughout the classes? Each person will have to occupy one bench, no sitting close to one another. No secret sharing of stationery under the benches, no sharing books if your benchmate hasn’t brought theirs, no whispers or jokes during classes. You can’t look over someone’s book for the notes being dictated, if you miss what the teacher is dictating.

The only times we may get to mingle will be the break times, and I bet they won’t allow much freedom. We won’t be allowed to eat sitting close to each other, or even share our food. No chit-chatting, fighting, hugging and all. The day will be lonely.

And don’t forget the masks. We students will also have to face the difficulty that doctors and nurses face everyday. We’ll have to wear masks the whole day, during classes and all. Just imagine, we won’t be able to smile at our friends also! I can’t even bear the thought of it. Those cunning smiles and grins during classes were the only enjoyable things during classes.

And even the teachers would be wearing masks. When they would be teaching, we won’t even be able to follow what he or she is telling through their lip-movement, because their mouths would be hidden.

And getting our notebooks corrected would also seem different. The teacher would correct it altogether, and distribute it by calling each student to come and get it, at the same time maintaining a 1-metre distance. No real-time viewing of our notebooks getting corrected.

And of course, no Acs would be on. How suffocating it would be! I can even feel the irritation now itself. Already Chennai is getting hotter day by day, and to add to it, we’ll have to wear masks the whole day, inside a room with many people, with no AC! And to make matters worse, my school’s uniform is a sweatshirt-type thing. Even on a normal day (with the Acs on), my shirt smells so bad of sweat when I return from school.

I’m sure there won’t be any canteens. And I’d dread it if my school has the canteen open, because usually you can never find a free space to stand on there, it’s that crowded. Just imagine you standing in the midst of such a crowd in this situation; anyone can pass you on a virus that’ll isolate you for weeks!

And dispersal-time would be extremely dangerous in my school, I do not know about other schools. In my school, we usually squeeze through people and make our way out with our heavy bags and lunchbags. I think it’ll be much more complicated from now on. And I’m sure it’ll take atleast an hour to reach the gates from your class if they do open schools.

And of course, the assemblies! As anyone can imagine, there’ll be markings for people to stand on, or we’d be instructed to maintain 1-metre distance on all sides. No more laughing, giggling, whispering and nudging during assemblies. And I’m glad P.T. sir won’t wait to check on our nails anymore, it’s too dangerous isn’t it? ;-p 

A whole lot of other things might change too, I haven’t thought of everything. But I’m sure, school life will never be the same again. It will be all isolated, lonely, silent and sad, which makes school-going even more dreadful for me.