Virtual learning medium fails to connect with children with special needs

With private and government schools in the city having moved to e-learning during the Covid-19 lockdown, children with special needs and their parents are finding

With private and government schools in the city having moved to e-learning during the Covid-19 lockdown, children with special needs and their parents are finding it difficult to cope with the sudden change in the medium of education. Parents of children with hearing, speech and intellectual disabilities are having a hard time helping their kids with assignments and activities at home, in the absence of special educators.

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Officials in many schools said they were unprepared to deal with the needs of children with disabilities when the medium of learning changed during the lockdown that was put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.

The mother of a 15-year-old speech impaired child, enrolled in a South Delhi private school, said they were not receiving “age appropriate” study material. “Either the school doesn’t send us anything or it sends us random videos and worksheets without a systematic approach. Every child with some disability have an individualised education plan (IEP), based on their ability and learning levels, and the study material should also be provided accordingly,” she said, not wishing to be identified.

Parents of a hearing impaired student of a private school in West Delhi said they are struggling to help their son, a class 7 student, in finishing his assignments. “We don’t know sign language properly and it becomes difficult to make him understand his worksheets and assignments. On normal days, he finishes all his work at school with the help of special educators. We are really worried about him lagging behind in studies,” Lalit Kumar, the father of the 14-year-old, said.

Seema Tuli, principal of Amar Jyoti School, said they are sending videos in sign language for students with hearing disabilities and audios of the lessons for visually challenged students based on their IEPs. ”Although we are trying our best to provide uninterrupted learning to all students with special needs, the pandemic has made us realise that online education tools are not inclusive and equally accessible to all. Many of us are struggling to find modes to cover different kinds of disabilities under the ambit of online education,” she said.

Directorate of Education’s (DoE) inclusive branch, earlier this month, issued guidelines to all government school directing them to develop a home-based intervention plan for children with disabilities.

The schools were asked to send daily activities to these students, including daily life activities, domestic skills, art and craft, among others. Schools were also asked to take feedback from their parents every three days.

Special educators working in government schools said they were not ready for a sudden shift in the medium of education.

Dharmendar Kumar, a special educator, said they are sending only basic activities to students. “We are only focussing on daily life activities. We are asking to learn to do their own work such as brushing their teeth, bathing, eating, dressing and cleaning,” he said, adding that he fears that his students may lag in their learning by the time the lockdown ends.

“For instance, it’s not possible to make students with visual disability learn Braille virtually. We send them audios of lessons and new words so that they can hear and learn. Also, not all of these students have access to the internet,” he said.

Shyam Nath, father of an intellectually challenged student at a school in East Delhi’s Patparganj, said, “It is difficult to make my daughter understand several things. Now, the teacher calls her every alternate day and gives her some activity. We are not being able to help her as much as we want to. The teacher has asked us to join a WhatsApp group for parents like us, but we don’t have a smartphone at home.”

Experts said all stakeholders will have to join hands to come up with a pedagogy that will these children in situations like the current one. “Instead of each school trying on its own, there should be uniform guidelines on how to handle children with specific disability in a virtual learning setting. The Do) needs to come up with a format,” disability rights activist Satendra Singh said.

A senior DoE official said they have recently received a letter from the state commissioner asking them to ensure a smooth learning process for children with special needs. “We have already issued guidelines for government schools. We may also approach private schools with these,” the official, not authorised to speak to the media, said.