THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
Though there are indications that schools of this, there is no decision as yet and Union HRD Minister Pokhriyal has also stated that schools will resume with 30 per cent occupancy and there may be a delayed start for Classes I to VIII. Schools will reopen, but how will children adhere to the various guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs, especially at the primary level? It would be difficult for them to understand the new rules that will be in force.
It will be a different world for children in schools like the hourly hand wash and use of masks. Also if social distancing is to be strictly maintained then there would be just one student on a bench, unlike earlier when they set with their best buddies. Children will also not be allowed to touch each other, to play together, to embrace each other, to do the high fives. Besides, what would playtime be like? Physical education is one of the most important aspects of the school curriculum, however, it may have to take a back seat for some time as the playground is the one place where maintaining social distancing would be very difficult. With a delayed start for schools, students are expected to have fewer holidays this year as teachers would require time to complete the syllabus.
While this is from the student’s perspective, from the government administration and the school aspect it would be a daunting task should the novel coronavirus persist. The issues would be maintaining social distancing from the school bus to the classrooms. School buses will have to run at half the capacity and classrooms will be so filled, which means more buses and more classrooms and more classrooms means more teachers.
Starting the school year late or interrupting it completely disrupts the lives of many children, their parents, and teachers. A lot can be done to reduce this impact through remote learning strategies. Online tools can to utilised to assure that lesson plans, videos, tutorials, and other resources are available for some students and probably, most teachers. In Goa, perhaps there has never been a better time to make use of the laptops gifted to students under the ‘Cyberage scheme’. Though the scheme has been discontinued, many of the elder siblings may have benefited from it and still have the computer or laptop given by the State government. Besides, the new scheme has also given substantial funding to schools for computer labs and institutions can make use of this for online teaching. It’s good that the State has begun training teachers for online teaching as this will go a long way in improving their skills.
Also, the role of parents and family, which has always been extremely important, will be critical in online learning. Parents will be more involved in their children’s education, and government and schools will have a clearer understanding of the gaps and challenges in connectivity, hardware, integration of digital tools in the curriculum, teacher’s readiness that exist in using technology effectively and act upon that. All of this can strengthen the future education system in Goa.
The process of reopening schools might be gradual, as authorities will want to reduce the possibility of a second wave of the pandemic, as our neighbouring States have been badly hit. In that uncertain context, it might be better to take decisions assuming a longer, rather than a shorter scenario. The challenge today is to reduce as much as possible the negative impact the pandemic will have on learning and schooling and build on this experience to get back on a path of faster improvement in learning.
