Source: Deccan Herald
Most schools in the city have resumed offline classes while offering online classes at the same time. Schools have been cautious and have chosen to open the classes in phases. While some schools have permitted only students from higher classes to join back, others have allowed primary classes till middle school to come in.
The National Public School (NPS), Kalkere, recently opened classes 9 and 11. The school management is not looking at having primary classes on campus soon because parents are still apprehensive of sending their wards. Shyla Purushotam, principal, NPS Kalkere, tells Metrolife, “Only 50 per cent of the students from higher classes are on campus. We also have the option of online classes and some of them have opted for that. We will slowly start classes 7 and 8, but this will be done in phases.
Shyla says wearing a mask in the school is mandatory at all times and social distancing within the classrooms (in terms of seating arrangements) and on the campus are strictly enforced. “The temperature of every student is checked before they enter the campus,” she adds.
But enforcing Covid-appropriate behaviour on campus has become a huge challenge. With the staff-student ratio still weak, enforcing the rules requires additional effort, says Sreepriya Unnikrishnan, head of school, Ekya School, JP Nagar.
“It’s not like before. The process of getting back to school has changed. It starts with a consent form and a letter of declaration stating that all the family members are vaccinated. A temperature check is done at the entrance and recorded, and inside classrooms, teachers are required to keep a watch on them at all times,” she says.
A similar protocol is followed at Greenwood High International School, Varthur, says Aloysius D’Mello, principal. While getting the students to wear masks and use sanitisers regularly is easy, it is the social distancing part that is a challenge, he tells Metrolife.
A similar protocol is followed at Greenwood High International School, Varthur, says Aloysius D’Mello, principal. While getting the students to wear masks and use sanitisers regularly is easy, it is the social distancing part that is a challenge, he tells Metrolife.
A similar protocol is followed at Greenwood High International School, Varthur, says Aloysius D’Mello, principal. While getting the students to wear masks and use sanitisers regularly is easy, it is the social distancing part that is a challenge, he tells Metrolife.
“We’re social animals, social distancing is not something we’re in sync with. We try to ensure all students follow it but they’re kids after all,” he adds.
The staff shortage has been a major issue post the second wave of Covid-19 and schools have been forced to function with limited classes.
“Many teachers have not been able to come back for offline classes for various reasons. But now, as we’re seeing a good turn out of students, we’re looking to recruit more staff,” adds Sreepriya.
Hybrid classes, a challenge
Hybrid classes require teachers to conduct classes both online and offline. “We have already been conducting hybrid classes to ensure the education of the students, who aren’t attending offline classes, is not affected,” says D’Mello.
While transitioning back to offline classes is already a challenge, the added pressure of hybrid classes is a worrisome situation for teachers. Sreepriya agrees and says, “Many parents are still worried about sending kids back to school, especially kids in the grades 1 to 5. So we need to provide the option of hybrid classes. This will be new ground for us.” Hence, the school is postponing the plans to reopen classes 1 to 5.
Suseela Santhosh, director, Vishwa Vidyapeeth, Singanayakanahalli, also expresses concern regarding hybrid teaching. “Giving attention to both the students in class and those who are at home, online, is going to be a real challenge for teachers. It will become very hectic,” she tells Metrolife.
She believes it’s time for kids to return to school. “This will not only help improve their academics but also have a positive impact on their confidence and mental health,” she says.
Even Shyla counts hybrid teaching as their biggest challenge right now. “Teachers interact with both sets of students to make sure they understand. The last few minutes are always reserved for clearing doubts and taking questions, if any, from those attending online classes,” she explains the process.
She hopes the vaccination for children hits the market soon. “Parents are apprehensive about sending their children to school because there’s no vaccination yet. We hope at least one dose is made available to the children. This will offer some protection,” adds Shyla.
Parents are divided
Parents across the city have taken sides and signed the consent forms sent out by schools, either agreeing to send their children for offline classes or giving consent to continue in the online mode.
Roopa Sebastian, an IT professional and mother of a class 12 student, says that she was happy to let her ward attend offline classes.
A resident of Horamavu, Roopa says “This age group is old enough to follow Covid guidelines and understand the importance of wearing a mask at all times and maintaining social distance. Our son has seen how strict we are at home and he has been tuned to follow all guidelines. We also make sure he takes enough precautions after he returns because we have aged people at home and we don’t want him bringing any possible infections.”
She feels that children will also have to learn how to live with the virus.
However, Ayesha Jameel is not keen on sending her teenage son back to school, fearing a lack of protocol on the school premises.
Source: Indian Express
As many as 14 districts in Karnataka reported neither new Covid-19 cases nor related deaths on Sunday, said the state health department bulletin. These districts were Bagalakote, Ballari, Bengaluru Rural, Bidar, Chamarajanagara, Chitradurga, Gadag, Haveri, Kalaburagi, Koppala, Raichur, Ramanagara, Vijayapura and Yadgir.
239 new cases, five more deaths linked to Covid-19
Karnataka reported 239 new Covid-19 cases and five deaths on Sunday, taking the total number of infections to 29,89,952 and the toll to 38,112.
The day also saw 322 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 29,43,809, the health department bulletin said. Bengaluru Urban topped in the number of cases (151), as the city saw 150 discharges and two deaths. The total number of active cases in the state is 8,002.
While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.21%, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 2.09%.
Of the five new deaths, two each were from Bengaluru Urban and Mysuru, while one was reported from Belagavi.
Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 151, Mysuru 17, Uttara Kannada and Hassan 12 each, Dakshina Kannada 11, followed by others. Bengaluru Urban district topped the list of positive cases, with a total of 12,52,831, followed by Mysuru (1,79,297 cases) and Tumakuru (1,20,891 cases).
Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban was on top with 12,30,170, followed by Mysuru at 1,76,668 and Tumakuru at 1,19,524. Cumulatively, a total of 5,13,87,155 samples have been tested in the state so far, out of which 1,10,220 were on Sunday alone.
Pre-schools to resume classes tomorrow, first time since pandemic hit
With the Karnataka government deciding to resume classes for pre-school (kindergarten) students from Monday, private school managements are hopeful of admissions in the coming days, as no offline classes have taken place for LKG, UKG students since March 2020.
D Shashikumar, the general secretary of the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka (KAMS), said that most schools have started calling parents to inform them about the reopening, in a bid to urge them to send their wards “confidently”.
He noted that most loss in continued learning has been noted in this age category. “The damages caused to continuous learning are irreparable. We hope parents will consider this and uphold all possibilities of learning by sending their wards back to schools, across classes,” he said, adding that all schools were instructed to adhere to the Covid-19 standard operating procedures issued by the government.
Further, Shashikumar noted that only five to ten per cent admissions have been done so far this year. “We have three to four months to go in this academic year. Better late than never. Young brains need personal and group learning sessions that they have missed for the last 20 months,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sreepriya Unnikrishnan, the head of Ekya School in Bengaluru’s J P Nagar, said that a good number of parents of primary school students had given a positive response. “They (parents) have been busy with the preparations to send the children to school in terms of procuring uniforms and Covid-safety paraphernalia and also planning their commute to school. We’re looking forward to seeing more children come into campus and in good numbers too,” she said.
Source: Education World
With the school closure for almost two years due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, schools are slowly reopening again. While most of the students are relieved to go back to school and are happy that they can interact with their friends, classmates and teachers in person rather than talking to them across a screen, the transition can be challenging. The pandemic brought in a drastic change in the learning spectrum and school systems to have changed from pre-pandemic times.
According to a report by UNICEF, 14 percent of young Indians are depressed in COVID times but are unwilling to talk about it. The same has been found among students, most of them are finding the transition phase difficult and refrain from participating in various class activities and would rather keep to themselves due to the lack of human connection. As the return to in-person school and learning rolls out, things will not simply spring back to the way it was.
Understanding the challenges of going back to traditional learning
Socio-emotional support: It is of utmost importance to help students develop their socio-emotional skills when they are back in school. Schools should provide counselling and support to all students, along with sessions in managing emotions and rebuilding their social skills now that they are back in school after a very long time. Building resilience in students and helping them support each other is essential to reconnect and maintain a sense of community and camaraderie.
Fear and Anxiety: Another challenge will be to assure parents that the school is safe for their children. Even though students will be permitted to attend class upon their parents’ authorisation and will be following strict Covid protocols and guidelines. Maintaining safety at school will also be a challenge. Adhering to Covid appropriate behaviour such as washing hands, social distancing and wearing masks at all times could be a challenge. Ensuring a large number of students in a class to maintain social distance between them and make them wear masks throughout is nearly impossible unless the classes are conducted in a huge space such as an auditorium or stadium.
Parent Adjustment: Schools for higher classes have started and the same has been planned for primary levels too. The primary challenge is to convince parents to send their children to school. Schools have opened once again as per the government guidelines. Schools have been instructed to give more emphasis on health and sanitation measures but parents still are not comfortable with the idea of exposing their children especially without a vaccine being administered.
Adjusting to the environment: After almost 24 months of schooling at home, students barely remember what “real” school is like. The task of bringing every child back to school in India is herculean and requires meticulous planning. Schools will have new rules in place for social distancing and extra care to maintain a sanitised environment. Given the large numbers of students we host in schools, it seems like it will be hard and a tough task to bring in all students on a full-day schedule for all days. School schedules should be planned accordingly to accommodate multiple needs and also maintain the required protocols. Also, the situation is still not stable and due to this uncertainty schedule must be kept flexible and alternate solutions to keep learning continuity should be planned.
Restoring routines: The pandemic has resulted in many students losing a steady routine as they had in school. This has affected their skills overall, especially in basic reading and writing which has now become more dependent on technology. Relying on recorded lectures and PDF notes and typing out homework and exams for months, now they have to start taking notes and submitting handwritten assignments once they are back to school. Students’ sleeping & eating patterns have changed. With remote learning, students had the freedom to attend classes from the comfort of their homes. Going back to school means some added effort and change in the laid back schedule they got used to. All these were not an issue during online learning. The challenge is to get students to come back to school on time and follow a timetable. Giving students time to re-adjust is the only way to help them through this period of adjustment.
Conducting classes online and offline: Lastly, schools face the issue of helping all students reach a required grade level. In this situation, schools must make sure that the students who are not coming to school do not fall behind the rest of the class. Following hybrid class models despite restarting physical classes is one of the effective means to address this issue. But this also poses a challenge for teachers since they have to manage two forums simultaneously and schools may have to largely invest in technology and infrastructure to maintain the two platforms.