CHENNAI: Class -IV student Vidhya has been attending online classes for the past 15 months. One major concern (among a plethora of others related to online classes) gripping her parents is that she is unable to read even one chapter of her text book without pronunciation errors.
The virtual mode of learning, though helpful for students in these trying times, has taken a toll on the reading skills of many, especially primary school children, claim experts.
“A student hardly gets an opportunity to read their lessons during online classes. After classes, they do not practise reading and, as a result, their phonetics and pronunciation have been hit,” said Andrew Sesuraj, State Convenor of Tamil Nadu Child Rights Watch.
“The problem will be worse for students in government schools, especially those in rural areas,” said Sesuraj. Concerned about the scenario, he is planning to consult different stakeholders and devise a strategy to deal with the problem. Many teachers have flagged that there are limitations for them to teach beginners to read over video-conference calls.
“We are not able to conduct group-reading lessons and teach students how letters sound. It’s a challenge for students to concentrate and to watch how their teacher’s mouth moves while pronouncing letters and words during online classes,” said Sujaya Dasgupta, a private-school teacher.
Academicians agree that online classes are no substitute for classroom teaching where teachers can make children learn under proper guidance and monitor their learning and growth. Some, however, are trying to deal with the problem in their own way.