Schools go virtual to keep in touch

Meenakumari Sridhar learnt that her son 12-year-old son Arjun had not done his science homework not from his school diary or his classmate, but from a message posted on the school portal by his teacher.

Meenakumari Sridhar learnt that her son 12-year-old son Arjun had not done his science homework not from his school diary or his classmate, but from a message posted on the school portal by his teacher.

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“The school’s portal gives me updates on Arjun’s activities and performance and I have direct access to his teachers,” said Sridhar, who logs on to RIMS International School’s website at least twice a day. She also downloads the week’s examination schedule and skims a record of Arjun’s attendance.

Interaction between students, teachers and parents on a virtual platform is catching on among city schools.

Podar International School, Santacruz, creates a profile for each parent as soon as a child is enrolled. Like networking sites, teachers and parents can form groups to communicate with each other.

Jyoti Bajaj, a Class 10 teacher at Podar International School, Santacruz, uses the school portal to post remarks. “I don’t have to write a remark in a diary and ask the child to have it signed by the parent,” she said.

School portals are also changing the scale of communication between schools and their students. About two lakh students, their parents and 7,000 teachers from 113 schools under the Ryan International Group of Schools across the country had their profiles created recently on myschool.in.com.

The site allows students to view videos of missed classes, chat with teachers to solve queries before tests and hold intra-class discussions.

Students are only too happy. “Downloading assignments, emailing essays, uploading photos of school activities don’t make school feel like school,” said Heena Shah, a Class 10 student at RIMS.