At a time when schools were grappling with the unprecedented COVID-lockdown across the world, there was one institution St Xavier’s Academy in Old Goa which silently delivered 100 per cent results in the Goa SSC (10th Boards) exams last year when the pandemic was at its peak, just as it had consistently for the preceding 10 years.
This institution caters to the needs of intellectually challenged children and even during the lockdown, it ensured that no student lagged behind.
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“Just like others, we too were faced with daunting challenges during the lockdown. The biggest challenge in front of us was imparting education to these specially-abled children. But we didn’t get ruffled by the situation. We channelised all our energy towards helping these children overcome the hardships posed by this unique situation,” Principal, St Xavier’s Academy Sister Monica Coelho said.
The teachers reached out to the parents not having smart phones or proper internet connectivity. We called their wards to the school campus for special classes thrice a week.
“For 9-12th standard students, we had offline classes quite often. During the pandemic, we used to send them the notes for preparation. When the offline exams started, other schools called their students on the exam date, whereas we called our students at least 10 days before the exams to help prepare for the examsand complete their books,” Sister Coelho said.
The most unique aspect of the Academy during Covid-pandemic was it never made its session timings uniform for all.
“With the help of our class teachers, we did a survey on the timings at which each parent was available with the media device at home. We used PPTs that had simplified lessons that included videos for better understanding. These used to be sent to the parents as per their availability. We made video calls and during all festivals, we conducted various co-curricular activities through video calls,” she said.
The school received a lot of cooperation from the parents during offline sessions. They personally came to pick and drop their wards. In cases where pickup was not possible at the designated time, those children could not be picked and dropped were made to stay in the Academy hostel.
“There are obstacles in the way. But together we can find solutions to the problems. We have to be strong and learn to live with COVID taking necessary precautions. I too was down with the virus, but still did my best to help the children,” she said.
