Schools have been shut since the pandemic began. Students have been confined to their homes and this has caused enough trouble for students. It was a troubled time for both teachers and parents. As people were still discovering ways to fight the pandemic, the childhood of students were under great threat. Hence, homeschooling changed people’s thought process. Students had to grow comfortable in their homes and they had a distinct level of comfort while attending online classes. Now that the restrictions are slowly being uplifted, parents and teachers feel, students are unfit to attend offline classes. Is that correct?
While some students have completely detached themselves from physical activity, many have taken up wellness programs like Yoga and Pilates. Students in residential schools were accustomed to a certain sense of discipline which the pandemic has completely thrown out of the system. Students were always being guided by their teachers and had a set of physical activities like going up and down the stairs, running, dance, Yoga that were involuntarily accomplished throughout the day. These small acts contributed heavily to their well being and made sure students were doing okay.
The pandemic has disrupted the entire system and made the students lethargic and fatigued by the end of the day. Hence in order to activate the students, residential schools should make it compulsory for students to take up a form of activity that energizes them and make them physically, emotionally and mentally fit to attend offline classes. Residential schools should also take up the cause of children’s well being and introduce them to activities that help them reclaim their physical, emotional and mental health. Small things like a good sleep cycle, a nutritious and balanced diet, proper communication between students and parents should be put in place. While lectures, both online and offline can be tedious, students should be allotted some time for leisure as transitioning from an online mode to an offline setup can mentally challenge many students.
Residential schools can organize a screening process where they identify clinically depressed students, students who have compromised mental and physical health, emotionally disturbed students, students who have lost their relatives to the pandemic, disoriented students and provide free counselling to all students who are in the dire need of life-coaches. As the mental health of children is still a taboo topic for many Indian parents, these facilities should be voluntarily provided so that children can seek help and open up about their conditions as early as possible without feeling ashamed.
Similarly, underperforming students should also be given special attention so that they can cope up with the pressures of the Indian Education System. Residential schools should provide adequate time to the returning students to adjust with their new environment.
As various reports across the country suggest that the quality of education has deteriorated over the course of the last two years, and students have faced a lot of difficulties learning via the online medium, this gap in the mindscapes should also be addressed. Many pre-primary and primary students have failed to acquire writing skills, and have yet been promoted. This issue should be given the required priority it deserves as this is catastrophic for any educational system. Similarly, many such gaps in the practical knowledge of students need to be identified and addressed. Many parents and students may be hesitant to bring this up but a thorough recapitulation of the subject matter should be provided to all students. Students should slowly and steadily be accepted back into the system.
