MUMBAI: With learning entirely offline in the 2022-23 academic year that started Wednesday, both students and parents made a beeline to schools across the city. The ones who missed school had family members recovering from Covid-19 infections, said principals.
Beginning with the school assembly to singing of the national anthem, students in crisp uniforms and masks were let loose in their classrooms. Alumni donning cartoon character costumes, teachers performing songs and bands added to the hustle and bustle of day one. “What caught our attention was that apart from the education gap, the pandemic has impacted students’ growth in terms of height and stamina,” said Poonam Pandharkame, principal, A B Goregaonkar School. This year, more classes have been allotted to physical education, art and health, she added.
Crowd management outside schools was a task as parents of students in pre-primary and primary sections jostled to see them settling down. This year too, most schools have decided not to shuffle students, as was done in pre-Covid times. “The last two years children have become familiar with their classmates online. It made sense to allow them to move to the next class en masse,” said a principal.
Schools appreciated parents’ response to school reopening, despite the rapid rise in infections. “Parents were anxious yet keen on offline schools. We had an over 90% turnout of students. The rest have sought time due to unavoidable situations,” said Vandana Kumbhar, principal of Maratha Mandir School. Last year, the academic year began online before switching to the hybrid mode in October.
School education minister Varsha Gaikwad, while welcoming students, said, “Let us continue to learn with fun but also take care to be safe.” Distribution of free textbooks was undertaken in a number of aided schools in the city.
As learning begins, the initial 30 days will be devoted to bridge courses. Schools, however, spoke about technical issues with downloading bridge course contents and question papers. Students have to undergo a pre-test on June 17-18 to understand their learning outcome in their previous standard. A post-test will be conducted on July 25-26 to know students’ grasping ability.
