GENRE: In Focus

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed India’s evolving child-care ecosystem to the brink of collapse with preschools and playschools shuttered since March last year and no new admissions this academic year. According to a UNICEF report, this has impacted 28 million preschool children in anganwadi centres across the country. But while the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development issued an order in November last year, allowing all states and Union Territories to reopen anganwadis outside containment zones with immediate effect, there is still total confusion among parents, schools and policy makers on the reopening of private preschools.Having seen thriving business pre-COVID, with…

Since the first case of COVID in January 2020 and the national lockdown from March 2020, there has been a barrage of guidelines, rules and regulations for every sector and every aspect of our lives. Yet, preschools and daycare centres, a lifeline for working parents, were totally overlooked. Preschools have neither figured in any notification nor in any help package. A staggering number of such centres in the city have closed down. The staff, owners, parents and most importantly the children, have all been adversely affected. Informal estimates from discussions with preschool owners indicate that over 4000 preschools and daycares…

Three decades of conflict, a total shutdown for months in the state since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 19 2019 and two long periods of lockdown during the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic — all of this together has created a serious mental health crisis in Jammu and Kashmir, and led to a sudden spurt in suicides in the Union Territory in recent times. Suicides in Srinagar in particular have risen at an alarming rate, as young boys, girls, women and even elderly individuals are taking their own lives. The city of 1.2 million has…

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, we saw that the impact on biodiversity is completely ignored when real estate projects are given Environment Clearance (EC), even though documents submitted by the builder are often completely obscure or even copy-pasted from other publications. Yet the SEIAA (State Environment Impact Assessment Authority) clears most of these projects without question. When it comes to mega ‘township’ projects with built-up area above 1.5 lakh square metre, builders have to submit an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), giving details of the abundances and densities of flora and fauna in the project area as…

In her 158 sq ft home in Semmencherry Housing Board, 12-year-old S Kumudha* chops vegetables, while her elder brother is busy writing an assignment. Kumudha will later make a quick lunch and clean the house; her brother will attend an online class. Both their parents are daily wage labourers, who are out at work from morning to dusk. Kumudha takes the load off her mother by doing the domestic chores. Her mind, once intrigued by the concepts of geometry and the Indian Constitution, is now entirely engrossed with south Indian cuisine.  It wasn't always like this, though. Kumudha and her…

Part 1 of this series looked at how mid-sized real estate projects in Bengaluru get Environment Clearance (EC) quickly, irrespective of their impact on biodiversity. But what about larger ‘township’ projects exceeding built-up area of 1.5 lakh sq m or total plot area of five lakh sq m (50 ha)? On paper, the criteria is stricter for these - the builder has to submit a detailed EIA (Environment Impact Assessment). The State Environmental Appraisal Committee (SEAC) has to assess the EIA and recommend the project, before the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) clears the project. However, environmentalists have for…

Oil spills are annual during Mumbai monsoons and this year was no exception. Washed ashore as black or dark brown sticky liquid tar deposits, it was first noticed on August 4th that the sand in several beaches of Mumbai turned black from the tar deposits. These signs of tar pollution were seen along a stretch of 4 kilometres, extending up to Alibag and beaches in Palghar. In fact, according to Shaunak Modi, Director, Coastal Conservation Foundation, the oil deposits have been occurring throughout August. Two weeks ago a lot of tar had washed ashore at Chimbai beach in Bandra and…

After 18 months of virtual classes, schools have resumed physical classes for students in the 9th to 12th grades in Tamil Nadu. Earlier this year, schools had reopened for senior classes in April, but the decision had to be reversed by the government due to onset of the second COVID wave. Now as schools decide to reopen classrooms once more, there is a palpable feeling of joy and excitement among students. But how do teachers and educators feel about it? What have been their learnings from online teaching during the pandemic and how will it all come to bear upon…

In recent times, one of the lasting representations of Kolkata in popular culture lies in an iconic scene from the film Piku, where Bhashkor Banerjee, played by Amitabh Bachchan, is seen riding a bicycle around familiar haunts, with an air of euphoria and freedom. Ironically, in spite of the humble bicycle being a symbol of nostalgia and heritage, Kolkata is also the only city in India to have widespread restrictions on cycling. Cycling used to be banned in 178 roads earlier. Presently, the bicycle ban is in place in 62 arterial roads of the city. Despite this, the city records…

In Part 1 of this series, we found that online education in government schools is largely limited to WhatsApp messages, and that many children are unable even to access them. At the other end of the spectrum are well-established and high-end private schools that are also conducting online classes since the pandemic began. In Part 2, we find out whether they have made online learning effective. Aparna Hariharan conducts tuition classes in maths and science for Grade 5-10 students who study in private schools. She says her workload has multiplied since COVID. Her students say the syllabus was covered in…