THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The schools will be reopened in a phased manner as soon as the state gets the approval from the Centre and Covid control agencies, General Education Minister V Sivankutty told the assembly on Monday. He said the government will begin online counselling for parents at the school level from next month to ensure that children are not addicted to online games.
“At present, school counselling is being given to students to reduce the stress they face because of digital classes. But there is a shortage of counsellors. Appointing more counsellors is under consideration. Teachers who manage the classes should interact directly with the children and find solutions to their problems. Classes in sign language will be included to enable digital learning for students with disabilities,” the minister said.
“With the transition from virtual classrooms to interactive online learning, the problems faced by children will be solved. Children can then communicate directly with teachers and build friendship with peers. Connectivity is the key to switching to interactive online classes. The connectivity issues are acute in Kasaragod, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad districts. These will be fixed soon,” he added.
HEALTH ISSUES
Sivankutty said school students are facing various physical health issues due to the online education necessitated by the pandemic.
“A report by SCERT said 36% of students suffer headache and neck pain while 28% suffer eye problems due to overdependence on digital devices. This is serious,” he said. He said efforts are on to encourage the students to engage in physical exercise for maintaining physical and mental health.