“Thank God, Summer Vacations have started!”, sighs a parent, a neighbour of mine. Another echoes, “At least, now I will be able to focus on my office work”. The third one, with twins aged four, emerged the happiest. We can imagine her plight of making the two kids sit for online classes at one go! Well, all this reflects the agony of parents, whether ‘working’ or ‘stay at home’. Kids are equally unhappy about the home schooling on this pandemic earth.
Adapting to the new normal of e-schooling from home is a new inescapable routine now. You like it or not, you have to accept it and look for the best ways for your children to learn from home.
Corona has done exactly the same to e-education as demonetisation had done to digital payments in India.
Going by the philosophy – ‘learning shouldn’t stop’, schools immediately took to e-schooling from March itself. Home tuitions and other extra-curricular activities also followed suit. The situation will continue to be so till normalcy is resumed with development of a vaccine to beat the virus.
EdTech companies were the first to take a dive to make the most of the on-going situation (Covid19), offering free access to their courses.
Parents initially were happy, but gradually the happiness started to fade away. The complaints range from their concern about the physical fitness, eyesight as the screen time has increased, to watching over kids as they keep switching windows, etc.
E-schooling, certainly, can’t be equated to real schooling. Touch and feel of a school is important. Students have a schedule at school that consists of regular study periods and a recess time. They have friends in schools with whom they talk to in the class, walk through school corridors, play in the ground and accompanied to the canteen. And a virtual schooling is devoid of all this stimulation.
Psychologists have been of opinion that to make homeschooling a cool and fruitful experience, the school hours need to be kept in check, else the whole exercise will bear no fruit in terms of learning and motivation. Kids in elementary level school have a maximum of two hours on screen and high schoolers, not more than three hours a day.
Kids have started behaving indifferently as their anxiety levels escalate. The only constant in their ‘very personal’ academics and school life is this newfound ‘intense online date’. And to add to their pain, parents restrict the usage of screen when they want to play an additional hour on phone or watch something. To their shock, the poor confused kids are reminded that the prolonged screen time is detrimental to their sight and health.
My two kids, one teenager and another, about to enter teens, are also among the 1.26 billion children worldwide who are affected by the pandemic. In India alone, there are over 320 million of these online learners.
“Maa, I was happy getting ready and going to school every day. I hate this online certification. My birthday too went away in lock down,” says the older one.
Playing a similar tune, the younger one says, “Life has become so boring Maa. Can’t we at least visit our home town (Uttarakhand)? We can study online from there. Grannie always says that Uttarakhand is a Devbhumi, so it will always remain protected and nothing will happen to us. (kids’ innocence bewilders me…looks like there’s hope!) So let’s go there… At least, we could move out, climb up and down the hills there.” How I wish I could say ‘yes’ to this awesome suggestion!
The Indian Education Minister, yesterday (June 7), announced the opening of schools from August onwards. However, it is a question of trust in the support services and overall comfort levels that will have schools witness real attendance.
Let’s talk in bullets about cool and uncool aspects of e- schooling (from kids’ perspective; my kids helped in typing down these points)…
Cool Factor:
- Digitization of education
- Ease of access of learning material
- New technology and usage of different apps
- Access to computer and parents’ mobile
- Waking up early not necessary
- Wear the upper- the shirt only, and attend classes
- Peek a boo during class time when it’s break-fast time
- Muting and unmuting oneself
- Marking attendance while rubbing eyes
- No need to ask for permission to pee or poop; just carry the phone along
- Teachers are cool throughout classes, not harpy anymore
- Delayed home-work submission invites no grumbling, only unpleasant emojis
Uncool Factor:
- Online classes are classes, not a game
- Get pretty intense sometimes
- Parents act as CCTVs
- Teachers ask questions if you go behind camera
- Tables and chairs at home give no kick and feel
- Teachers are never absent… no substitute class
- No attendance (seems it’s fun for kids!), no zero period
- Miss pranks and mischievous activities
- Miss the fun viz, morning assembly, auditorium, houses, clubs, washrooms and school bus
- No fruit tiffin, lunch boxes and water bottles
- No canteens
- No computer lab
- No playground and courts
- No birthday chocolates and celebrations
- No friends, no school hallways, no talks
- No swag
- No more love and pampering after returning home
Pallavee is a mother of two and currently a senior communication strategist and PR consultant. She is ex-national features editor, business - The Economic Times and senior education journalist- The Times of India