Watch: Girl breaks down in classroom as schools reopen after Covid break

The student, Sneha, said it was difficult for her to follow online classes and was relieved that physical classes had resumed. (Image credit: A screengrab from the News18 video)

As schools reopened in Delhi from Class 9 onwards, a video of student breaking down in tears in the classroom has gone viral. The student, identified only as Sneha, appeared to be relieved as physical classes resumed because she could not follow online classes properly.

In the clip, News18 journalist Rupashree Nanda was reporting the reopening of schools in the national capital when she sought to ask a student from a government school how she felt about resuming classes offline. But, before she could ask the question, Nanda noticed that the girl’s eyes were welling up.

“Why are you in tears?” she is seen asking the student who said her name was Sneha. “I had some problem with my phone so even though I attended online classes, I faced a lot of difficulty in understanding the lessons,” Sneha said.

“Now, with classes back to being offline, it is much easier for me to understand what is being taught,” she added, wiping her tears.

Sneha also revealed that her father is partially blind and could not afford a new phone.

Nanda then proceeded to comfort the girl and also requested other students to clap and cheer Sneha up.

The video has been winning hearts on social media with many commenting on how Covid hit students the hardest. Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma also shared the video and said he found the video to be “very emotional”.

Very emotional. The journalist handled it so maturely and cheered her up well. https://t.co/mTGzVE9xHC

— Vijay Shekhar Sharma (@vijayshekhar) February 7, 2022

Twitter user Shabana Khan wrote, “Really heartbreaking. We can’t even imagine pain of the student.” Another user Arti Rana said, “Even though my daughter did not face any hardship, she still cried with the announcement of schools reopening. She is 7. Every kid is happy.”

Rachna, who goes by the handle @rachnasareen80 tweeted, “These two years have made one thing very clear. The social and emotional connect between the teacher and learner cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence. Kudos to the learners and let’s now start appreciating the efforts of the teachers.”

Although schools in Delhi were shut during the first lockdown in 2020, they were briefly opened in November 2021 with 50% capacity before shutting doors again as the third Covid wave hit the country.