Schools find new ways to make up for lost days as government extends leave

Schools that were to open on July 1 will now open on July 8. But that’s not stopping schools in NCR from getting in touch with students and teaching them.

On Wednesday, 10-year-old Ankita Jain, a student of Class 6, woke up early and prepared for school after two months of summer holidays. She didn’t follow her usual routine of getting dressed in her uniform and taking the bus to school; instead, she sat on a couch with her mother’s laptop and waited to connect with her teacher and classmates.

Schools that were to open on July 1 will now open on July 8. But that’s not stopping schools in NCR from getting in touch with students and teaching them. (Arun Sharma/HT PHOTO)

The 20-day-long heat spell that has scorched the National Capital Region (NCR) centred on Delhi, with the temperature soaring to as much as 48 degrees Celsius in some parts, has prompted the governments of the capital, Haryana (Faridabad and Gurugram) and Uttar Pradesh (Noida and Ghaziabad) to extend the summer vacation by a week.

Schools that were to open on July 1 will now open on July 8. But that’s not stopping schools in NCR from getting in touch with students and teaching them.

From reaching out to students through video calls to making use of the zero period (the period just before the start of regular lessons), schools are doing all they can to make up for the days lost to heat.

At Mount Abu School in north-west Delhi’s Rohini, teachers are sharing practice papers with students on the school’s phone app and web portal so that students keep up with the curriculum.

School principal Jyoti Arora said the unit tests had been scheduled from July 12 and the practice papers will help students revise subjects at home. “We are sending them these practice papers based on the syllabus they studied in the months of April and May. We are also sharing activities with parents so that they can engage the children at home,” she said.

In Faridabad and Gurugram, schools are planning ahead to make up for lost time— some are making use of technology and others holding extra classes. The Shri Ram School, Gurugram, for instance, has started holding classes through video conferencing.

The school conducted so-called “zoom classes”— a video-based collaborative classroom session — on Tuesday and Wednesday between 9.30am and 1pm. The classes meant for classes 6 to 12 have three slots of one hour each with 15-minute breaks in between.

The service lets teachers see only four students at a time on screen with their microphones muted unless they intend to ask a question. They can scroll through the screen to view other students.

“If I have a question, there is an option for me to send a notification to the teacher. The teacher can then un-mute my microphone, allowing me to ask my question,” 13-year-old Aahana Bharadram of Class 8 said.

“The day the government declared an extension (of the vacation), we sent out circulars to parents saying classes will be held. We have been holding these special classes on every unplanned holiday as the school can’t afford to miss classes,” Manika Sharma, director, The Shri Ram School, said.

She added that these video-based classes have been held earlier too by the school on holidays declared because of high pollution levels.

At Kunskapsskolan International School in Gurugram, teachers connect with students via Skype and Google Hangouts. Parents of the students said the school had shared a calendar on which it marked mandatory classes that will take place from 9 am to 1.30 pm.

To be sure, not every educator supports the lengths to which some schools are going to make up for lost time at the start of the academic year. Nothing can replace classroom interaction, and communicating through electronic devices makes such sessions impersonal.

Shiv Nadar School in Faridabad has a digital programme for classes 6 and 7 students and all students have their personal digital devices but it plans to hold extra classes on Saturdays to make up for lost time, said principal Anju Wal.

“Our digital programme enables children to connect with their teachers even if they are not physically present in the school, but nothing comes close to actual classroom interactions. We will have to take extra classes on Saturdays till July and August for classes 7, 8 and 9 to bridge the gap,” she said.