SCHOOLS AGAINST THE PANDEMIC: REOPEN OR NOT

by Admin


Posted on Sep 03, 2020 11:09 AM



Monday morning 24th August, 2020. Khumbar, who usually used to be at her school at this hour now hurries behind her brother Boyar. Striding on the dikes of the paddy field which stretches for more than a mile, they are on their newly made routine to deliver breakfast to their father Tapan who is working on the fields. Being located at a small village in West Tripura, the family mostly lives on farming and day wage jobs. Tapan, who is the sole bread earner of the family speaks on how difficult it is now to make a decent amount of money to support the family amidst the co-vid pandemic. When asked about his children’s future he emphasised on getting them educated as much as possible till the family can support. Khumbar who is in 4th grade has already shown interest in subjects like English and maths, however Tapan is concerned about the current situation of schools which can hamper the interest and learning habits of her daughter. Boyar who is 5 years older than Khumbar  when asked about his ambitions, informed that he wanted to be a doctor however given the scenario right now he cares less about the schools and wanted to help his parents immediately to support the family.

About 30 kilometres away, Ankita is about to start her online exam. Ruchi, her mother is as always concerned with her tests performances and often ensures that her daughter maintain good ranking in the class. Ruchi has expressed her thoughts on the current online learning system. According to her this new initiatives ensures that a student do don’t miss out on learning during the co-vid pandemic, however it has various loopholes in its delivery method and prone to online technical errors. She stated “At one instance, Ankita was well prepared for the online test and sat through 30 mins in the test. When all of a sudden the submit option did not respond leading to which she could not submit the test”. Ruchi also pointed out her daughter’s interest and hobbies. Ankita, who is an 8th grader studies in a convent school at Agartala. She is the top of her class and hold interests in biology and chemistry. According to Ankita, the type of questions provided online are not much descriptive and worries over the standard of evaluation to her learnings.

Similar scenarios are visible all over the state of Tripura and likewise across the nation. It gets even worse as we move in to remote locations where the students struggle to get a decent education during the current pandemic. The Government of India has taken various initiatives and implemented many schemes to pacify the impact of pandemic on education sector which majorly revolves around the introduction of e-learning platforms like Shagun Online Junction, e-pathsala, Swayam Prabha, Virtual Labs etc. Also, the rise and movement of Private bodies in this industry has significantly aided education centres and coaching institutions to reduce the gap in knowledge transfer. However, issues still remains in remote areas where per capita income of the demography and staggered connectivity facilities exists. Most students located in sub-urban and rural areas has inadequate network connectivity failing to load even a single webpage sometime, adding to it there exist another issue with unavailability of requisite devices like Smart phones or PCs. When asked about the problem, the parents resorts to a simple answer of “We cannot afford”. Even though the parents are well-wishers of their children and strongly agrees upon educating them, they are unable to get the necessary device for online learning. With such conditions it is now paramount that reopening of schools is absolutely necessary, at the same time devise an extensive strategy and lay out guidelines to protect the students from the pandemic.

The thought of reopening schools can be daunting right now, especially with the current rise in spread of the pandemic but the consequences of inhibited learning can be even grimmer in long run. The government of India has already initiated the unlock 4.0 where it intends to reopen schools and other services simultaneously, however most of the parents are concerned on the health hazards of their children. Several guidelines and precautionary norms are laid out by the Government to contain the pandemic but execution of the guidelines and strictly adhering to it can be another challenge. The concern rises further in case of Primary and upper primary schools and education centres where the students are not able to maintain the norms of social distancing at all times, thus exposing oneself to a higher risk of infection. Since the month of May several European countries has tried reopening schools with Standard Operating Procedures to contain the pandemic and we can say that only handful of them are completely successful. In Germany, a study on 1500 teenage students and faculty of 500 teachers who has gone back to schools shows that only 0.6% of the entire group had antibodies to the virus. While in Israel an outbreak at a secondary level school infected over 150 students and staffs. These risks do exists in reopening the schools but at the same time a student cannot completely be dependent on Online learning only. Most parents expressed their concern on the quality and quantity of learning the child is experiencing every day. Even if the student do follow the online class routine and schedules, students are gradually losing the habit of dedicated and deep learning lessons. In terms of online platforms and e-learning services teachers and schools has resorted to Google meets, Zoom and Whatsapp for Online classes, study material distribution and to some extend even tests. Few Private companies has bank on this opportunity to provide services for online learning however technical glitches, errors and connectivity issues keeps dreading the end user.

The impact of Non-operational schools during the pandemic has impacted not only the students but also the parents and the community as a whole. In Sub-urban and rural areas where the students are restricted to device availability and connectivity, the students gradually tends to fall behind their peers in terms of progress and motivation in learning who have a better access to the pre-requisites for an online education. In most homes, the mothers has to bear heavier burden as now they have to remain in home and look after her children which inhibits career growth or extra income to the family. For children in rural areas, they are most like to suffer malnutrition and poor mental health as schools were their main source of vaccination, treatment and meals. For teenagers in rural areas mostly the girls; are asked to contribute to the family income through daily waged jobs or get married, either way compelling them to drop out from the schools. Being said that it is well perceived by all parents that education is the only surest path out of poverty and reopening of schools is the only way forward.

As far as reopening of schools is considered, it is paramount that the process won’t be cheap. With proper planning and guidelines it is possible to contain the spread in schools. The schools should consider this pandemic as a lesson and should be well equipped with digital measures, at the same time educate its students and teachers on leveraging the online platform for various learning activities going forward. A Hybrid model should be adopted by educational centres and coaching institutions, where the conventional classes in a classroom with blackboard and chalk should be continued but at the same time integrate online platform into weekly or monthly tests, quizzes, assignments and projects. Online classes can be provide for deep learning where the students can focus more on his or her interested topics. As for operations, the schools can reduce the class size, optimise timetable and routine, layout SOP on social distancing and safety measures. The vulnerable teachers can opt to online lessons while the state health department can initiate school based tested to monitor and contain the spread. Overall it all boils down to us individually on how we address the current situation and help each other to fight the pandemic.

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