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Lockdown: Children suffering due to lack of stationery items at home
Parents rued that children have used all old notebooks to revise lessons for the final exams held last month and now, with all stationery shops closed, they have no notebooks.
A majority of private schools have switched over to online classes due to lockdown in the state, but parents are finding it difficult to make children complete the daily assignments because of lack of stationery items such as notebooks, pencils, erasers, scrapbooks, sharpeners, drawing books, crayons and tools of geometry.
Parents rued that children have used all old notebooks to revise lessons for the final exams held last month and now, with all stationery shops closed, they have no notebooks.
Scores of parents have stated that online classes are keeping children engaged for four to five hours but, with no textbooks, notebooks and other stationery material, it is becoming difficult to cope with the syllabus covered by teachers. Several parents have also stated that they did not have laptops, tablets, iPad and WiFi facilities and are facing problems to get their children attend the online classes.
Garima Khosla, a resident of Dugri, said, “My kids are studying in a private school and, on March 19, the school authorities declared the result and asked parents to purchase books as per the list available online on the school website. I decided to purchase the books on March 22 but, due to Janata curfew, all the shops remain closed and then lockdown was imposed the next day in the state.”
She added, “On April 2, the school sent a message that classes will be conducted online but, in the absence of books and notebooks, children are not able to complete the assigned work. School authorities have been sending many assignments in bulk due to which children are stressed.”
Another parent, Arvinder Kaur, a resident of Model Town, said, “Videos and textbook images, sent by teachers, are very helpful. My six-year-old son enjoys online classes, but is not ready to note down the lessons in the rough notebook. He demands new books but I am unable to buy new books and stationery.”
She said school authorities must give assignment of one subject daily as, in the absence of notebooks, it will be tough for the children to complete the work once they get notebooks.”
Ravi Rajput, a parent, said, “My eight-year-old daughter remains glued to my smartphone daily for two hours to note down the work sent by the school. In the absence of a laptop or a desktop at home, she struggles to write down the work and is complaining of irritation in her eyes. I have contacted the school authorities to stop sending online work as children are spending more time by looking at gadgets, which are causing eye discomfort.”
However, school principals of private schools say teachers are sending work of two to three subjects daily. The images of pages of the books are sent daily to the students to make them read the lessons online and then videos are sent to explain the concepts. The idea is to make the students busy for a few hours and videos of teachers giving tips to children to remain healthy (exercises, yoga asanas) are also being shared by a majority of schools.
