BACK TO SCHOOL

PARENTS AND EDUCATORS FACE MYRIAD CHALLENGES AS SCHOOLS BEGIN TO REOPEN

- Shelly Anand and Sonali Acharjee

Raghav Kapoor (name changed on request), had initially enjoyed attending online classes after schools went virtual in March 2020. Six months in, though, the Class 8 student from Mumbai started feeling the brunt of this new method of learning. His concentration levels began waning and, at one point, he simply lost the motivation to study. Moreover, unable to meet his classmates and friends, he started showing signs of mild depression.

Stories like Raghav’s led educational experts, parents and government bodies to urgently debate the reopening of schools. The months of isolation had deepened the realisation that school is also about hanging out with friends and peers and having face-to-face interactions with teachers. “Virtual learning is filling the gap of ‘no learning’, but we need to get back to physical school soon,” says Swati Popat Vats, president of both Podar Education Network, Mumbai, and of the Early Childhood Association, an organisation that brings together professionals in the field of early childhood education. “Also, the ‘digital divide’ between private and government schools has put government school children at a major disadvantage and this needs to be remedied as soon as possible.”