Children’s Day celebrations go virtual

Students and teachers across city schools celebrated Children’s Day this year virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. From dance preparations to plays,

Students and teachers across city schools celebrated Children’s Day this year virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. From dance preparations to plays, a plethora of activities was live-streamed by teachers for students on Friday — a day before Children’s Day on Saturday, November 14. City schools decided to hold early celebrations this year as the day coincides with Diwali, when all schools are shut.

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Routinely, schools celebrate Children’s Day with functions, where teachers present skits and ensemble performances or take students on outings. This year, however, teachers tried to replicate the activities virtually. Schools across the country closed in March in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, following which most institutes decided to take the online route for imparting lessons. Both classes and celebration of important days, such as Teachers’ Day and Children’s Day, have gone online since then.

Last year, schools had to call off Children’s Day celebrations after they were asked to shut down on account of air pollution and heavy smog. This year, schools decided to mark the day virtually through online activities such as plays, special assemblies and interactive sessions with teachers. Teachers said that while virtual celebrations seemed odd until last year, rising environmental and health concerns had compelled them to embrace virtual celebrations.

She added that it had been nine months into the pandemic and virtual celebrations have helped to motivate children who have been missing school. The school organised a digital celebration for Children’s Day spread over two days. “My teachers and I recorded videos for the whole school. Besides the videos, teachers of different grades came online and regaled students with different activities. They sang songs, poems and skits. It was a vibrant experience,” said Arora.

At Kunskapsskolan International, teachers organised virtual parties for students for younger grades that saw the participation from parents, while senior students took part in online games and quizzes. “For younger students, we had a game party. Even the parents were involved in such celebrations. For grades 2 and above, teachers had planned other activities such as quizzes,” said Ramanjit Khinda, school headmistress.

Yash Handa, a student at KR Mangalam World School, South City-1, said that while the nature of celebrations had changed due to pandemic restrictions, online platforms were used by teachers to make the day special for students. “This year, we marked Children’s Day virtually. Our teachers prepared videos, one-act plays, interactive sessions that were shared with us online. It’s definitely not the same as regular celebrations but our teachers went out of their way to use technology and do the best they could in the times of pandemic,” said Handa.