Swoyan Satyendu, COO ODM Educational Group shares his view point
An average school in India has approximately 250 children and some big schools have over 5000 children pursuing education. Imagine how easily a single infected student can pollute his whole classroom in a day and so the chain can potentially onwards epidemically. Such a scenario will take a huge toll on the human stakeholders of schools and colleges as these are places where children from all walk of life come together to learn, grow and have fun. Therefore, a shut down as means of social distancing and averting a catastrophic spread was timely and necessary.
So how do we cope with this situation that has put a halt to the learning system of over 250 million students in schools and in the colleges and universities? What is that we can do to enable an ecosystem or create it where our students can still learn, and where education processes will not stop but will actually thrive? Here are the following steps that some schools are trying or can do to implement to ensure that the student’s learning cycle doesn’t suffer long enough due to COVID-19 crisis:
- Introducing Online Classes/Modules: Schools during this time of crisis can introduce online modules and classes for children from VI-XII for important subjects like Maths and Science. This will enable students to learn and relearn even the basic equation at their comfort and pace.
- Providing Online as well as Offline Notes: Learning without practising bears no results, and to ensure proper learning, the schools are sharing study plans and notes to the children of each class. Students can utilise their time at home, learn and practice as per the progress in the notes.
- Rearrange academic holidays to adjust school curriculum: Once the school re-opens, the schools will plan to cut out on holidays through the academic year and adjust for the lost school classes. By reducing the length of summer vacation and adjusting it with classes will spare some time for students and they’ll get enough time to prepare for other subjects apart from Maths and Science.
- Extra classes to make for the lost class time: As and when the schools reopen, they’ll create a period-subject wise timeline for each subject, so that they can provide extra classes to students without fail and ensure that the syllabus is completed.
- Assigning Class Mentors: The schools must align Class Mentors (assigned to each child) who will personally speak with the students and their parents and advise them on what to study and how to initiate preparing for the initial chapters seating at home. They will also be able to offer comfort to students.
- Quarantine Activities for Learning & Fun: While the students are at home, the teachers can assign students activities which will engage them at home. This activity-based learning can become a part of the curriculum and will help students cover a few topics even without coming to school or by being guided by the teachers.
- Cancel internal exams: Post the immunization of COVID-19, the school may choose to cover more classes and focus on covering the curriculum and to achieve the same, they may reduce the number of internal or external exams.
Our school, ODM Public School, Bhubaneswar is and will try to fully implement the above-mentioned recommendations and will help students streamline their studies and achieve their goals.
