Delhi govt invites suggestions on protocols for classroom learning after lockdown lifts

: The Delhi government on Monday invited suggestions from students, parents, teachers and school principals to develop a protocol for schools once they open after

: The Delhi government on Monday invited suggestions from students, parents, teachers and school principals to develop a protocol for schools once they open after the Covid-19 lockdown.

HT Image

Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia said he will initiate a dialogue with key stakeholders of school education before finalising protocols. “We have faced challenges in the past; the difference this time is that the entire world is facing it together. Soon, we will learn to live with the coronavirus disease. Slowly, things will open up and so will the schools. However, this also means that new ideas of schools and learning will have to be scripted,” he said.

The education minister said that the time has come to think out of the box. “For decades, schools had a set pattern, standardised classes, times, way of functioning. These need to be re-imagined now,” he said.

The Directorate of Education (DoE) has also put up a form, through which suggestions can be made, on its website. “Students, teachers, principals and parents whose children are studying in schools can give their inputs. Respondents submitting practical and out of the box suggestions will be invited to share their thoughts with the Education Minister of Delhi through an online platform,” the Delhi government said in a statement.

Sisodia will invite stakeholders from across the city for discussions in the next few weeks. “The dialogue sessions will be centred on how each stakeholder views the challenges and opportunities created by the Covid-19 situation, constraints we are likely to face in times to come and steps that need to be taken from now onwards to create an education set up that ensures equitable quality learning and well being of all children in post lockdown phase,” the statement read.

Principals of private schools in the city said that the way schools operate will now completely change. Principals say that social distancing, rotational classes, regular sanitisation of the buildings and discontinuation of large gatherings, for annual day and sports days, will be the new norm when schools reopen.

Amita Wattal, principal of Springdales School on Pusa Road, said that the schools will have to make major changes in the allocation of funds. “We will have to spend more on technology, buying licences of online platforms, sanitisation and hygiene. The schools will have to cut down on functions like annual events and sports day to avoid gathering and unnecessary expenditure. We will have to spend more on online training for teachers,” she said.

Some said they will explore the possibility of holding both online and offline classes to avoid all students on campus.

Manju Sethi, principal of Bluebells School International, said, “We will have to call students in batches only. We can’t call all of them at a time since it’s unsafe for them to travel in buses in a large number. For that, we need a blend of online and offline modes of education throughout the year. We will wait for the DoE protocols.”

Experts say that the schools should hold have only one-fifth of the class strength on campus and rotate the students in batches. “This could be done till the vaccine is found or we are able to handle the peak,” said educationist Meeta Sengupta.

However, if students were to be divided into multiple batches to ensure social distancing measures, completing the usual syllabus can be a challenge. “Schools could think of dividing curriculum into red, orange, and green zones and divide them into concentric circles, depending upon their importance. The division should be such that core syllabus should enable students to do self-study in non-core areas,” said Sengupta.

On newer avenues for the education system, Sengupta recommends a community-based learning model where schools could function as smaller units, locally. “The Delhi government has already created a mohalla clinic model. They could think of something similar, like a mohalla education model where students could approach a parateacher or support staff to help them with their learning,” said Sengupta

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is also preparing school safety guidelines to be followed when classroom learning resumes.