A petition asking that parents be given a choice on whether or not they send their children to school during the coronavirus pandemic garnered almost 8000 signatures in the first three days.
It comes as the state's public school students were ordered back to classrooms full-time from yesterday.
A NSW Department of Education spokesman responding to an inquiry from the Leader said student attendance levels at NSW public schools on Monday, May 25, was 86 per cent.
He said this was a "substantial increase" on the previous week, when just over one-third of students attended school.
This coincided with a phased return to classrooms whereby the majority of students were asked to attend school just one day a week.
The spokesman said that on a normal school day, NSW public school attendance averaged about 92 per cent.
Both NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell have said attendance at school from this week is compulsory and failure to attend without a medical reason will be recorded as an unexplained absence.
The petition, on Change.org, is calling on the Ms Mitchell and NSW Department of Education to let parents decide whether their children should attend school during the coronavirus pandemic or continue learning from home.
The petition said the NSW Department of Education had unilaterally decided to reopen schools for all students as a result of "political and/or economical pressures".
The petition said students were being advised on the NSW Education website to follow "good hygiene practices".
"Kids in K-2, struggle to follow these easy, simple instructions at home with full-time supervision. How are they going to follow these with supervision of 1:20 ratio?" the petition said.
It also questioned the amount of essential hygiene supplies the department says it has sent to the state's 3136 public schools.
According to the NSW Department of Education's "guide to NSW school students returning to face-to-face learning", all schools are returning to full on-campus learning from today.
"School students do not need to follow strict adult physical distancing guidelines, but should follow good hygiene practices like regularly washing hands, avoiding sharing drinks or food, and coughing or sneezing into your elbow, or a tissue, which should be discarded immediately," it said.
It said all students should be at school unless they are unwell or have a medical certificate which states that they are unable to return to school due to an ongoing medical condition.
"Your school will receive additional cleaning in line with the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) guidelines and advice from NSW Health," the website said.
"Target areas include high-touch areas and other hard surfaces, door handles, lockers, light switches and handrails in stairways and movement areas.
"There will also be additional cleaning of toilets and bubblers and topping up of supplies like soap.
"Your school has received supplies of soap, hand sanitiser, toilet paper, paper towels, disinfectant wipes and personal protective equipment. The school is able to order more as needed."
It said 740,000 items had been dispatched to schools so far, including 60,000 rolls of toilet paper, 22,000 rolls of paper towels, 23,500 bars of soap, 2900 litres of hand wash, 166,000 litres of hand sanitiser, 138,500 litres of surface spray and 100,000 packets of disinfectant wipes.
To view the NSW Department of Education's guide to NSW school students returning to face-to-face learning click here.
