Focus on identifying and addressing learning gaps
Recreational activities for students and an analysis of learning outcomes of digital classes provided to students in the past academic year and this year will be the focus of activities in schools the first two weeks after reopening on November 1.
Academic guidelines for school reopening after an extended closure owing to COVID-19 were released by Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty on Wednesday.
The guidelines lay stress on understanding each child’s abilities and academic levels before planning classroom activities.
Classroom experience
Initially, stress should be on providing them a direct classroom experience. The lack of direct classroom learning the entire past academic year and its impact should be kept in mind while bringing children back to the mainstream of education.
As declared earlier, the focus at the outset should be on forming friendly bonds with children and familiarising them with the school environment. Students should be provided opportunities to engage in activities they like and present their projects and creations, thereby increasing their confidence. The schools should be decked up to look welcoming. Stories and songs should be used to make younger students feel comfortable in school.
Recreation
Students should be provided with books to engage their minds. Social abilities and communication, which are likely to have been affected in the months spent at home, should be encouraged. If need be the services of school counsellors should be sought. Along with mental recreation, some physical recreation through light exercises should also be provided to children.
There should be a project to identify and address learning gaps to ensure that educational pathways remain smooth for all learners.
Teachers, for their part, should be able to link physical classes with online or digital classes effectively. They should try to get children to put into practice in the classroom what they learnt during online classes.
Practicals
Practicals, library activities, and group activities should be taken up. Presentation of assignments and their feedback should be done through online classes. Digital or online classes and video classes should be used for the benefit of students not reaching schools.
The academic activities for November should be ready prior to the school reopening, and teachers should be given online training to familiarise them with it. The activities for December should be prepared based on a review of those taken up in November.
Planning of academic activities should take into consideration number of school days, online platform, and video classes. District Institutes for Education and Training (DIET) can coordinate activities as per the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) guidelines.
Timetable
Schools can prepare timetable as per their requirements and conditions. They should plan how many students can be brought to school on a day taking into account the student strength, classroom availability, and seating capacity. While children need to come to school only with parental consent, the attempt should be to encourage maximum number to return to the school environment, the Minister said.
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