Perched on a verdant hill, overlooking an evergreen lake, one couldn’t ask for a better setting for a residential school. But the pandemic forced the sprawling campus of Heritage Girls School, around 20 kilometres north of Udaipur, Rajasthan, to remain shuttered for the most part of last year.
Although students from across the country attended their online classes, almost every day, from the comfort of their homes, life was simply not the same. However, there was much rejoicing among the students when the school administration first broached the topic of reopening the institution with the parents, sometime in December last year.
Since the Heritage Girls School is fully residential, the administration took every step conceivable to make it Covid-proof. All the teachers and support staff were ordered to stay within the campus, only two students per dormitory were to be allowed as opposed to six before the Covid-19 outbreak. Classrooms and dining halls were to maintain strict social distancing norms, masks were compulsory and so was daily temperature. There would also be random tests at regular intervals.
“Each one of us took the Covid test before we were allowed inside the campus and our administrative wing, which interacts with the world outside, was to be completely isolated. Since the first week of January when the first batch of children started coming in, we haven’t had a single case of Covid,” says Tulsi Bhatia, principal of the school. Such precautions may not be considered over-the-top for a residential school like Heritage, but others haven’t lagged behind either.
Take, for instance, the Ryan group of institutions, whose schools are spread across the country. “We have created stringent Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and our personnel have been trained thoroughly. We have invested in the required infrastructure and equipment to sanitise the premises and keep it safe. Covid Safety Manuals have been created for our schools and a special team called CERT (Covid Emergency Response Team) has also been set up.
Clear guidelines have been made available to the entire staff, in line with standard safety protocols of masks, social distancing, and sanitisation,” says Sumitha Christopher, Principal of Ryan International School, Chennai. But not all schools in India, estimated at more than 1.5 million, can be expected to have the wherewithal or the desire to go to the extent affluent schools have, to keep their students out of harm’s way. With the Central Government, in September, coming up with guidelines to allow physical classes in a phased manner, many schools are testing the waters. And at least since January, one can hear the familiar, but muffled noises of students around schools from across the country.
The New Normal
Schools understand that reopening is fraught with risks, especially with Covid-19 rates again soaring in some states and new strands of the virus making their presence felt. India is bracing for a second wave. The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology warns of over 7,000 coronavirus mutations in India. With the vaccine rollout still in its initial stages, not everybody is confident of going back to the pre-Covid levels of functioning.
Much of India, at the same time, cannot keep its children away from the schools. There are more than 250 million school-going children at the nursery, primary, secondary and senior secondary levels, and only a small section of this huge number was able to access online classes during the pandemic.
Take the case of Manasa Vidya Kendra in Bengaluru’s JP Nagar area. Catering to the working class population, this English-medium school saw many drop-outs when the online classes started, as many of the parents didn’t have spare mobile devices to share with their kids.
“Many, in fact, said that their kids will not attend the school for the rest of the year. Most of them had lost their sources of earning and didn’t have the capacity to pay even basic fee. So, returning to normal is not easy for most school-going children in India,” says S Preethi, administrator of the school. But with schools in Bengaluru reopening, attendance in higher classes has almost remained the same as before the pandemic.
And we are not even talking about tier-2 and tier-3 cities. “A lot of students who belong to low-income families and come from small districts, where internet connectivity itself is a problem, are the ones who got affected at a deep level. Now the government and local bodies should find some common ground to work on the problems related to internet connectivity and fill in different technology gaps,” says Dev Roy, founder, Digital Aristotle, an education technology company that works closely with schools to improve the academic performance of students.
Many well-to-do schools have taken parents onboard. Ramachandran Kunnath, a Chennai-based parent, says that he feels confident of sending his children to school after the administration gave him a detailed plan for the post-Covid era. “As parents we were initially very concerned about social distancing and sanitisation at school especially with large batches of students. But we are seeing how well the school managed the entire situation and this inculcated confidence in some of us for sure,” he says.
His daughter Priyanjana Kunnath, a Class XII student, says that she is glad to return to the classroom environment. “Online learning was great and we were able to be on track with our academic course, but we definitely missed the fun of being in the classroom. I was missing not only the academic part but also the extra-curricular activities and break time with my friends,” she says.
Some of the new things that the students cannot miss in their schools now are face covers and masks, visors, hand sanitisers, thermal guns, alcohol wipes and even pulse oximeters to check oxygen saturation levels among those showing symptoms for the disease. “Face masks are here forever it seems although I hope they will be gone sooner than later. I am not very comfortable in them and you feel a certain barrier while interacting with others,” says Ananya Singh, Class XI student at Heritage Girls School.
Kunwar Ajay Singh, Director of the premium residential school Heritage Academy in Kotdwar, Uttarakhand, says keeping the hostel infection-free is a priority. “We’ve segregated hostelites from day scholars. We have special classes where teachers have separate time tables for hostel students.” Over and above that, the Academy is not allowing common activities like games. Strict sanitation protocols are followed in rooms to halls; of course, masks are mandatory. Food is prepared under supervision and served in exclusive dining halls. “Only fresh food is served to the students; leftovers aren’t stored. Even the vegetables are sanitised,” Singh adds.
Bridging the Gap
Early adoption of technology by many schools played an important role in keeping the system running even during the height of the pandemic, according to Christopher. “We collaborated with our edtech partners and were able to ensure that the teaching-learning process continued efficiently and effectively using the Ryan School Operating System,” she says.
Since not many students, especially in the lower age group, could follow online sessions regularly, some schools are gearing up to address the issue. “We will initially focus on bridging the gap and ensuring that children are all on the same page in terms of their conceptual understanding. In the first month of the new academic year, revision of the previous year concepts will be done,” says Parveen Shaikh, Principal, The Somaiya School, Mumbai.
Necessity to Opportunity
Nobody was prepared for the online classes, but since it was a necessity, schools, students and parents adapted to many on-the-go learnings with many misses and a few hits. Though schools are cranking back to classroom-level teaching, online learning is here to stay, whether it is for classes or for conducting exams.
A transition from fully online classes to a hybrid one, which involves both online and physical classes, could be one of the ways forward. “We understand that the entire student strength will not be coming to school for offline classes, so there is a big challenge to enable the same offline class to be beamed online, otherwise the teachers will have to take the same class twice at different timings for offline and online students,” says Bharat Goyal, Founder and Director, Bhartiyam International School, Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. Currently, at Bhartiyam, a limited number of secondary school students attend classes, with curtailed timings, in batches on alternate days. They have also been given the option attending online classes.
But inequality stares the less advantaged students in the face. While top private schools are equipping themselves with interactive screens and digital communication equipment to enable simultaneous physical and online classes, others including government schools find the costs too prohibitive.
There cannot be a more illustrative example of this than Delhi’s New Ashok Nagar Government Boys Senior Secondary School. While the classes have started for seniors, there are hardly any social distancing norms being followed, nor is the school equipped for online or ‘hybrid’ form of classes.
“We were not ready and we will not be ready in the future too. Neither the government nor our students, who mostly come from very poor backgrounds, can follow social distancing norms or have online or semi-online classes. Physical classes, with prayer on our lips that nobody will be affected by the disease, is the only way forward,” says a teacher of the school who doesn’t want to be named.
Brijendra Yadav, a Class X student at the same school, says that many of his classmates are finding it difficult to make up for the lost time. “Many of us are hoping for good marks in our practicals to pass our science exam. Maths is another area where many of us had almost no guidance although some of our teachers were helpful during the lockdown. Honestly, things like Covid and lack of social distancing don’t matter when we think of our exams,” he says.
Online Platforms Here to Stay
What about the online platforms that gained prominence during the pandemic? Some of these were coordinating with schools either in conducting classes or preparing students for various tests and exams. They are unanimous in their belief that in the post-Covid scenario, technology will be expected to continue to be an integral part of the education ecosystem. They have enabled the teachers to seamlessly get integrated into the system of online classes.
“Now that the schools and students have experienced and embraced the power of technology, it is difficult to go back to the old ways. We have experienced a behavioural change that is difficult to reverse. Key stakeholders in the education ecosystem are more aware of the benefits of online learning and more receptive to the technology now,” says Zishaan Hayath, CEO & Founder, Toppr. It is an app-based platform that prepares students for various school-level and post-school competitive exams.
Agrees Amit Agrawal, Founder & CEO, OckyPocky, an interactive English learning app for kids. “Parents and teachers got exposed to some quality platforms during the Covid shutdown, so they will continue to leverage India's best talent powered by great pedagogy. However, the weaker products will definitely suffer in the next 12 months,” he says.
These platforms may have opened up new avenues for students and teachers too. Hayath says schools are now not reticent about digital content in classes, digital assignments, feedback loops, virtual interactions with parents, and more. “With non-core activities like attendance and assignment evaluation being automated, they can focus on the core of teaching. Students can personalise their after-school learning and access the best teachers at a fraction of the cost without travelling out of their homes,” he says. These platforms are helping schools conduct exams in a fairly secure way in which students can write their exams from their homes.
Many schools are taking the help of apps to conduct unit tests and annual exams. The Somaiya School, for instance, conducts exams using a proctored app Exam.net, which enables the school to conduct tests in a secure environment. For the younger age groups, they are using simple Google Forms.
“We can say that educational technology or ‘edtech’ is the need of the hour. From being a far-fetched reality that we were earlier trying to achieve, digitalisation of the curriculum and complete reliance on it have now turned into the only viable option for teaching and learning,” maintains Roy.
But the students will have to go through the normal rigmarole when it comes to Class X and XII, baccalaureate and other exams.
Beyond the Classroom
Going to school and not involving oneself in sports is simply unimaginable. Schools understand this and hence have come up with some guidelines of their own to deal with this issue. While Bhartiyam has one batch of students playing non-contact sports in the playground, others are encouraged to play indoor games. The Somaiya School also follows a similar pattern with non-contact sports such as skating, table tennis, gymnastics and others being encouraged.
Schools have also innovated when it comes to transport. Ryan, for instance, runs its fleet with lesser capacity to ensure social distancing, while the Somaiya and Bhartiyam schools encourage parents to drop the kids to school, at least for a few weeks.
Hazy Future
While schools are clear that they are prepared for the future in terms of infrastructure and exigency measures so that students feel secure, many parents, on the other hand, are not so sure.
“The pandemic upended everything. I hope that everything will be normal, but we can also press the panic button very easily in the future if there is even a small scare,” says Vinutha Reddy, a Bengaluru-based homemaker whose two kids study in Bengaluru’s Ebneizer school.
She goes on to add that while she would like her kids to go to school, she wants to be very sure about their safety. “I would rather have them at home even if their studies suffer if I have the slightest doubt about their safety,” she says.nGayatri Bharadwaj, a Class VII student of Heritage School, on the other hand, has no doubt on what she likes.
“Safety of home was good but I feel meeting your teachers and friends, and learning in the class have no parallel. I have no fear of Covid at all,” she says and heads off to a session of basketball in her school playground. While schools are hopeful that they will return to normalcy when the new academic session begins sometime in June after the summer break, they will have their task cut-out to convince all the parents about their wards’ safety. But the elephant in the room will still be Covid. How it will behave, in much of the country, in the coming months would be the ultimate deciding factor for all the stakeholders.
Schools play an important role in the direct provision of health and nutrition services in the first
8,000 days of a child’s life that are critical for their development
Since the beginning of the pandemic, nearly 370 million children have not been receiving a school meal in 150 countries. At approximately 100 million, the largest number of beneficiaries of school-feeding programmes is in India.
Source: ‘Covid-19: Missing More Than a Classroom’, a report by UNICEF Office of Research and the United Nations World Food Programme
Only a small section of the more than 250 mn school-going children in India was able to access online classes during the pandemic
“We have created stringent Standard Operating Procedures and our personnel have been trained thoroughly. We have invested in the required infrastructure and equipment to sanitise the premises and keep it safe. Covid Safety Manuals have been created for our schools and a special team called CERT (Covid Emergency Response Team) has also been set up.” Sumitha Christopher, Principal, Ryan International School, Chennai
“Many of us are hoping for good marks in our practicals to pass our science exam. Maths is another area where many of us had almost no guidance although some of our teachers were helpful during the lockdown. Honestly, things like Covid-19 and lack of social distancing don’t matter when we think of our exams.” Brijendra Yadav, Class X student, New Ashok Nagar Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Delhi
“Online learning was great and we were able to be on track with our academic course, but we definitely missed the fun of being in the classroom. I was missing not only the academic part but also the extra-curricular activities and break time with my friends.” Priyanjana Kunnath, Class XII student, Chennai
“Now that the schools and students have experienced and embraced the power of technology, it is difficult to go back to the old ways. We have experienced a behavioural change that is difficult to reverse. Key stakeholders in the education ecosystem are more aware of the benefits of online learning
and more receptive to the technology now.”Zishaan Hayath, CEO & Founder, Toppr, app-based platform for exams
“The pandemic upended everything. I hope that everything will be normal, but we can also press the panic button very easily in the future if there is even a small scare. I would rather have them at home even if their studies suffer if I have the slightest doubt about their safety.” Vinutha Reddy, Bengaluru-based mothers whose two kids study in Ebenezer International School
“Parents and teachers got exposed to some quality platforms during the Covid-19 shutdown, so they will continue to leverage India’s best talent powered by great pedagogy. However, the weaker products will definitely suffer in the next 12 months.” Amit Agrawal, Founder & CEO, OckyPocky, an interactive English learning app for kids
“Many, in fact, said that their kids would not attend the school for the rest of the year. Most of them had lost their sources of earning and didn’t have the capacity to pay even basic fees. So, returning to normal
is not easy for most school-going children in India.”S Preethi, Administrator, Manasa Vidya Kendra, JP Nagar, Bengaluru
“A lot of students who belong to low-income families and come from small districts where internet connectivity itself is a problem are the ones who got affected at a deep level. Now the government and local bodies should find some common ground to work on the problems related to internet
connectivity and fill in different technology gaps.” Dev Roy, Founder, Digital Aristotle, an edutech company
Dos and Don’ts for Schools
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare guidelines prescribe preventive measures for teachers, employees and students:
Physical distancing of at least six feet to be followed “as far as feasible”
Face masks to be mandatory
Strict practice of covering one’s mouth and nose while coughing/sneezing with a tissue/handkerchief/flexed elbow and disposing off used tissues properly
Frequent hand washing with soap
Self-monitoring of health by all and reporting any illness at the earliest
Installation and use of Aarogya Setu App wherever feasible
Spitting to be strictly prohibited