For students, teachers, it is a choice between health or education

Delhi government’s Sunday announcement that schools in the city will stay shut till the end of October has triggered ripples of concern among teachers over the fallout

Delhi government’s Sunday announcement that schools in the city will stay shut till the end of October has triggered ripples of concern among teachers over the fallout the move may have on the prospects of students set to appear for their Class 10 and 12 board exams next year.

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Though most of school administrations said that rationalization of syllabus by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which was announced in July, will help in mitigating the academic losses arising out of the Covid-19 lockdown, conducting practical lessons for students of class 10 and 12 is the challenge.

Madhulika Sen, Education Advisor at Tagore International Schools, said, “While digital classes have helped in achieving desired learning outcomes, if schools aren’t reopened in November, science practical lessons will definitely be impacted. Our first priority will be to conduct practical classes for students of classes 10 and 12, as soon as schools reopen. We will also conduct doubt-clearing sessions for them since the syllabus will be covered in most schools by mid-November.”

Sen also emphasized on the importance of maintaining mental well-being of these students. “Classrooms allow peer-based learning and interaction which these students have been missing out on since March. We hope that November onwards, small groups of students can come to schools while maintaining all safety norms,” she said.

Shailendra Sharma, principal advisor to Delhi government’s director (education), said, “We have decided on maintaining the status quo with regards to reopening of schools for all classes due to the current Covid-19 situation in the capital. Any decision regarding students of any class, including students those of classes 10 and 12, visiting schools will be taken only when parents are confident of sending their wards back to school.”

Following the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown imposed in March, schools have been conducting online classes through video conferencing and WhatsApp to ensure the learning process continues for students. Teachers of Delhi government schools have also been sending worksheets to students who do not have unlimited access to internet or to devices like smartphones and laptops.

Schools have also resorted to recording videos of teachers conducting experiments in science labs and sending it to students for some exposure. “While teachers have explained some of the practical experiments during online classes through videos, the lack of hands-on learning cannot be ignored. For instance, in the vocational subject of travel and tourism, students earlier went for industrial visits to various places like banks or post-offices and submitted reports. We haven’t been able to conduct such practicals so far,” said Bijesh Kumar Sharma, principal of Shaheed Hemu Kalani Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Lajpat Nagar.

Sharma also recommended that children could be made aware of the necessity of safety and hygiene protocols during Covid-19 crisis and allowed to attend such practical lessons in smaller groups from November. On Sunday, the Directorate of Education, while announcing closure of schools till October 31, asked teachers to emphasize on educating students on wearing masks and maintaining hand hygiene before the start of every online session.

Sharma also cautioned against asking for a further reduction of CBSE syllabus for class 10 and 12 students. “The 30% rationalization of syllabus has helped schools but any further reduction may affect their future prospects, as important topics may be skipped. If schools are closed in November as well, we have to look at other alternatives like increasing the number of online classes to cover the syllabus,” he said.

The situation seems to be far more challenging for those government school students who cleared their class 9 and 11 exams only after retests in August and were promoted to classes 10 and 12 the same month. Awadhesh Kumar Jha, principal of Sarvodaya Co-ed Vidyalaya in Rohini Sector-8, said, “There is still fear among parents and teachers of contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus. So it is better to keep schools closed till October. However, students who recently cleared their retests and joined these classes have a tough road ahead as they have not attended any class 10 and 12 online classes before August. Though we have created smaller groups consisting of these students to do a targeted intervention by teachers, physical classes from November, after a discussion with parents and staff while following all safety protocols, would help more.”

Students, on the other hand, said that the current situation has put them in a spot — where they need to choose either their health or their education.

Kunal Singh, a class 12 student of Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya in Nand Nagri said, “When schools in the USA reopened, students there started getting Covid-19. But, we are also concerned about underperforming during our practical board exams.”

Several students like Kunal said that while the theoretical portion of their subjects was covered in their schools, they were yet to attend any practicals, even after six months of the academic session having begun. “Teachers are doing their best but online classes are not enough. If we are allowed to go to schools in November, I would like to go at least once and see how safety protocols are implemented and get my doubts cleared,” he said.