THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: I am so excited to be back in school and see my friends and teachers. For a long time now, we had been looking at mobile phone screens. Not that online classes were bad, our teachers did their best to teach us. Offline lessons are more fun,” says Anjana, a student of Cotton Hills Girls’ High School.
The Kerala government is planning to reopen the schools in phases. On Monday, physical classes resumed across the state for students from Class I to VII, and 10 and 12. “I missed my friends. Also, during physical lessons, we get to interact with teachers more,” said Sruthi, another student. Parents were seen waiting in and around the school campuses after dropping off their wards in the morning.
“My daughter studies in Class 10 and it’s a crucial academic year for her. Next year, she may move to a different school and may not be able to see her friends. I am happy that schools have reopened. Online classes are not practical and it’s tough for students to focus on a mobile or laptop screen. Also, more screen time is not good for their eyes,” said Rekha, a parent seen outside the school.
Another parent, Merin G, also expressed her happiness at the school reopening. “My daughter, a Class 11 student, hasn’t seen any of her classmates yet. Children lost almost two years of their precious school lives to pandemic. I am glad things are returning to normal,” said Merin.
Double trouble for teachers
However, managing offline and online classes daily will be a challenge for the teachers, as a few parents still prefer online classes for their kids. “Even after getting both doses of vaccine, people are contracting Covid. There are apprehensions but we have to obey the decision of the state government,” said Sulochana B, a teacher. “Earlier, online classes were held in the morning and evening. We are awaiting the revised schedule now,” she said. A few of the private schools in the district still haven’t resumed classes owing to other issues. “My son studies in Class V and his school has decided not to resume classes. The school buses are yet to be made operational,” said a parent who didn’t want to be named.
Maintaining Bio-bubble hard
Keeping the bio-bubble intact for students in a sustainable manner is going to be a challenge for school authorities, as fully vaccinated individuals are also contracting variants of Covid. “Earlier, we used to conduct online classes in the morning and evening hours for the convenience of the parents and students. Now, we have scheduled online classes in the evenings. Response on day one has been overwhelming. All Class 10 divisions are full. We have split each division into two batches so that Covid protocol can be followed,” said Principal T A Vincent, Cotton Hill Girls’ High School. He said the number of batches cannot be increased because of limitations of infrastructure. “The state government will come up with more decisions after November 15 after they study the impact of school reopening. Students are happy to be back. All our staff are vaccinated and we started the preparation for reopening weeks in advance. We got support from the Police Association, CITU and corporation authorities to prep up the school campus and welcome students,” Vincent added.
Love for our language
n Monday, a bunch of young theatre artists from Art Space Centre for Performing Arts in Thiruvananthapuram welcomed kids to their respective schools with a special ‘Praveshanolsavam’.
The 11-member team, who are also members of Kerala University Union Campus Theatre, showcased a Malayalam play ‘Madhurame Malayalamee’. November 1 also marked Kerala Piravi, the anniversary of Kerala’s formation.
The street play was conceptualised, written and directed by Satheesh G Nair and conveyed the importance of one’s mother tongue. It urged the present generation to respect it. Sharing his experience directing the play, Satheesh cites the need for children to learn and use our mother tongue Malayalam. “There is an increasing number of children who are ignorant about the language in our modern society. The government has suggested motivating children to learn Malayalam by introducing stories and poems to them. So I converted five popular Malayalam poems into a play, giving them a visual adaptation,” he said.
The half-hour play featured popular poems like Ente Bhasha by Vallathol Narayana Menon, Malayalam by ONV Kurup, Amma Malayalam by Kureepuzha Sreekumar, Mozhi Malayalam by Gireesh Puliyoor and Irayimman Thampi’s popular lullaby Omanathinkal Kidavo. According to Anagha S, one of the artists, the play is necessary since most kids were watching English cartoons, shows and video games during the pandemic, and need to get back in touch with Malayalam.