02/07/2020
Educating and Reforming with Covid!!
In these unusual times that our generation is facing due to Covid crisis, innovative minds are put to great use bringing out some marvellous solutions to sail through this. However, there is
always a risk involved whenever it comes to schools and education. Schools are looked upon by parents suspiciously for even if they overdo or underdo academic aggressiveness.
Few educational institutions have started online teaching, whereas some schools that have expressed concerns over its limitations and are thus readying themselves to start academic years with necessary precautions.
A lot has been said about the pros and cons of online education and government seems to be in a complete trial and error mode revising its decisions daily. We can clearly see the pressure online
education has put on the working parents (gadgets and chores management) as well as straining the tiny eyes. The story of little ones deprived of these facilities has also been brought to light.
As a parent, it is not acceptable to see a 6 year or 10 year old child sitting in front of screen for 4-5 hours and trying to decipher what has been taught. However, completely deleting an entire
academic year from our child’s lives due to safety concerns is also not an option. We need to adapt to this changing need, find a golden mean and come up with a proper blue print considering every operational issue one might have to face.
It is important to note that what we as a community are facing is totally new and it will take time for teachers, staff and students as well parents to adapt themselves. Education counsellors,
mental health workers, experts should come ahead in explaining and emphasising the new norms especially in rural areas. Along with parents and children, teachers/evaluators/caretakers all need a
single track guidance from the states (since we have a more state-board education system).
Drawing our inspiration from the fundamental principal revolution that took place in Japan after the atomic bombing, this break/a semicolon put to our system can be used to bring about a
great change in what we want our children to learn. It would be wise to use this time in an untraditional way as a chance to change this world into a better place.
Define the basics children should know by the end of academic year, for grade 1 to grade 7.
Government and education experts in conjunction with boards can draft the basics that children should know by the end of the academic year (grade wise). These basics might not only be the
bookish knowledge, but certain learnings or skills that the kids must learn appropriate to their age.
(This can include some basic chores, survival skills, identification of their surroundings, some situational tasks, linguistic tasks etc.)
Educational Videos Weekly educational videos can be shown. They may be telecast on national channels like DD or
through internet via YouTube or likewise. While the parents in urban areas may have all the resources readily available or are in capacity to make them available, the same does not hold true
for the rural areas. However, we are a progressive nation and social media has reached the grass root level. This can be
harnessed to our benefit.
Depending upon the grade, children may be shown one to four videos per week, each of half an hour to forty five minutes. The videos should be easily understandable, the concept and its applications should be very clear. The videos may be telecast on the national channels like DD. Or they can be telecast through popular internet mediums like YouTube. Apps like Aarogya Setu, designed for this can be made popular through government propagation.
This suggestion would take care of issues like: exposure to screen time, radiation, learning on devices getting charged, having restricted number of smart devices etc.
Evaluation system should change
There should not be any grading or marking (at least not traditional way). All the students should be promoted to the next grade.
The younger age group like 6 to 10-year olds, is already in a fix. They understand the situation but are not able to take in the gravity. Being confined in the 4 walls of home, missing regular
carefree school days, meeting friends, etc is also affecting their mental health. They may have emotional outbreaks. But the given situation does not ensure that adults are in right mind frame to
pacify them in the best possible ways. By not having evaluations, (at least the traditional way) we can definitely lighten the burden on both - parents and children.
The kids have learnt a great deal of skills in this period which should also be considered while evaluating their learnings.
Intervention from psychologists and school counsellors
Lectures from psychologists, school counsellors, educators should be made available and compulsory for both parents and students, area wise (urban / rural).
With increasing number of infected people and economic crisis, the situation is depressing and demoralizing for parents. Naturally, children face the vibrations and also may face the brutal truth.
In such cases, counsellors would play a major role in comforting parents and children together.
A family would definitely be happy and at peace where the parents and children are compassionate about each other and towards the society. Only a counsellor can make this happen!!
Compassionate coexistence between schools and parents can be ensured:
1. E-books
a) E-books for those who have the facility to take prints and spiral bind
b) Encourage parents to hand over old books to the school and redistribute it to the lower
standards
c) Have standard wise days at school for distribution of those when parents can come and collect it maintaining social distancing and abiding other applicable rules.
d) For those, who cannot manage to get hold of the books, chapter wise scanned material can be made available on the app or website.
2 Subject teachers can make small crisp presentations chapter wise and upload it on the app/school platform/YouTube videos as well as email or WhatsApp to the parents which students
can go through.
3 Multiple Choice questions should become a norm for semester examinations so that conceptual foundation can be ensured. (If any examination has to be conducted).
4 For 4th standard and above, Student groups/clusters to be formed and timings be allotted per week for each group. Doubt clearing lectures can be conducted online. These calls need not be video calls, but mere interaction with the subject teacher, where the student can write down all his doubts, compile them and ask together. Also, they will have a feel to be connected with the school.
This is merely for standards above 4th as they can comfortably interact on phone calls.
5 For standards below 4th, teachers can simply create worksheets along with presentations and online interactive sessions with parents can be arranged. Concepts can be explained via various
pictorial presentations which parents can pass on to the child. Weekly syllabus can be uploaded.
6 Students can be encouraged to carry out more descriptive writing (elaborating from the given pointers) that will help in strengthening the language. Separate assessment for the same based on grading can help them not to simply by heart (learn word by word), but write in their own words.
7 Also, small projects can be encouraged that don’t fall in formal education and fail to be carried out otherwise. Projects like identification of grains, pulses for smaller kids and understanding science behind everyday activities, money matters etc. can be given like weekly tasks. It is extremely important that these tasks should not become project works to be completed by parents.
Although these suggestions seem to be workable more for the urban schools with basic facilities, rural schools and municipal schools can conduct most of these methods through government
channels. However, it is extremely important that we do not compete these kids against each other for the evaluation considering the huge difference in resources.
Integrate all the above suggestions to initiate a radical change.
Let us reform the academic goals for this year. Let us use this time wisely and look at the system from a broader perspective. Operational issues can be worked out once basic guidelines are
in place.
By deciding to do away from grading the child, we keep the child free. An unstructured education ensures free child who is naturally creative and full of enthusiasm.
We can use this enthusiasm to bring out social and environmental changes. Simple tasks of planting new plants on weekly basis, observing and nurturing them, observing nature by playing in
soils or observing skies at night, helping nature (having bird houses or keeping water in open areas) etc. have many positive and desirable consequences. Regular sessions with counsellors can be very motivating.
Elder children may be assigned important tasks of helping “humane” in the “nature”. The counsellors are the best judges in the field of thinking and emotions. Using their established methods and experiments, the counsellors can try and augment the feelings of empathy and sympathy in the young adults.
Working on their emotional as well adversity quotients can be the new goal. This could also be the game changer for many young people who may not have realized but could be suffering silently.
To sum it up:
The academic year 2020 21 should be an unusually productive year!
The traditional marking and grading system should not be used.
The goal of the year should be healing earth, healing minds and promising a better
tomorrow!!
Shruti Joshi & Vidula Amdekar
