Education department connects with students, parents for monitoring remote learning

Gurugram: The school education department of Gurugram is carrying out a survey to map the progress of students in government schools under the remote learning initiatives

Gurugram: The school education department of Gurugram is carrying out a survey to map the progress of students in government schools under the remote learning initiatives being run during the lockdown. As part of the monitoring process, the department has directed officers and workers at various levels to interact with students and parents and record their feedback.

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The education department said it has been sharing notes and assignments with students via WhatsApp for over a month now amid the nationwide lockdown imposed in March to contain the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease. Lessons are also being transmitted via the NCERT’s Swayamprabha channel and the three Haryana EDUSAT channels.

As part of the survey, which began last week, different education officers starting from the school principal to block-level officers are required to reach out to different stakeholders and find out whether students are facing any hurdles in remote learning. All school principals are required to call a minimum of 20 students each daily and take feedback. Similarly, block education officers are required to record feedback from teachers, students and school heads over the same. Block resource persons have also been given lists of different students for the monitoring process. All officers are required to share the feedback recorded daily via email.

Schools heads and principals have been asked to gather the progress made by students by seeking details from parents. A template of four questions has been shared by the department for the purpose, seeking details about the role of teachers in disseminating timetables, lessons and assignments. Further, parents are asked if they are providing adequate time and a supportive environment to the student for watching lessons being broadcasted. Lastly, students and parents are asked to share their grievances and inputs, if any.

Ravinder Alawadhi, deputy director, SCERT, said the aim of the exercise us to familiarise students with remote learning while at home during the lockdown and monitor their progress, especially those students who do not have access to technology. According to a state government report, around 70% of government school students from classes 2 to 12 in the district have been connected via Whatsapp as part of the online learning campaign, leaving out a significant chunk of students.

“Some students were not even aware that online studies are taking place during the lockdown. The message regarding remote classes could not be conveyed to them in the absence of public announcements. In order to fill the lacuna, the department decided to involve officers at different levels who have been asked to reach out to all stakeholders and apprise them about learning programmes being transmitted on TV,” said Alawadhi, who is overseeing the monitoring process in Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh, Rewari, Palwal, and Mahendragarh.

He added that details such as timetables of classes, transmission channels, and the program being telecast were being shared with students to help them participate. “From what we have gathered so far, more and more students are getting to know about remote learning since the past week. We have driven home the point that studies will happen remotely for now,” said Alawadhi.

While the education department has not specified any closing date for the survey, Alwadhi said that it would be carried out till the percentage of students not accessing remote classes is covered up and all issues are resolved “There are certain communications gaps that we need to work on. Teachers and other officers are required to share a daily report but some teachers are still learning the ropes. The output and reporting need to be improved,” he said.