Schools

Academic years 2019-20 and 2020-21 were indeed tough on children, parents and for over 50 school boards, for whom COVID posed a serious dilemma — to hold or not to hold exams. Finally, the Prime Minister had to chair a meeting to arrive at a consensus saying ‘No’ to holding class 12 examinations under the CBSE. Then a new search began: how to declare Class 12 CBSE results in that case? The only way was to depend on Class 10 board exam results, performance through Class 11 and internal assessments conducted by the schools, including the pre-board exams. But this…

Around noon of December 9th, 13-year-old Sangram Singh was playing cricket with other boys at the Central Park in Kaushambi, in the National Capital Region location of Ghaziabad. A student of class 7 of the Delhi government's Ghazipur Boys' Senior Secondary School, not far from the infamous garbage-dump, Sangram does not have to stay home attending a Zoom class. His teacher sends the lessons and home work on Facebook or WhatsApp, and he attends to them at night because he shares a cheap smart phone with his elder brother, who studies in class 9 of the same school and uses…

Renee McPereira is a worried young girl. Her pre-board exams ahead of the 12th standard Central Board of Secondary Examinations (CBSE) exams should normally have been over by now. But now they are slated to begin on January 16th. The school final exams would normally have begun in March 2021. But as the countdown to an unknown date begins, Renee does not know when they will be held and counts herself lucky that she is in the Arts group and does not have to worry about practicals. Vaccine or no vaccine, “it is unlikely to be a happy new year for students, parents, teachers—all…

On September 8 2020, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India released an SOP for partial reopening of schools from September 21st and for students of classes 9 to 12 on a voluntary basis to clarify doubts and take guidance from their teachers, in keeping with the government’s phase-wise unlocking activities. This has facilitated partial reopening of schools in several cities in India starting this week, though parents remain uncertain and concerned, and schools are also mulling over how to get back to the regular regimen in view of the prevailing COVID-19 situation. Schools grappling with multiple…

Kulsum Khatun and husband, a rickshaw puller, are residents of Jagdamba camp in Sheikh Sarai. Over the last few months of lockdown in the capital, none of them were able to find any work. “My two daughters, aged 7 and 9, study in a government school in Malviya Nagar (South Delhi),” said Kusum, “Mid-day meals were very important for us since we hardly make enough to feed them twice a day. Now, even that has stopped. We received around Rs 95 in March but nothing since then.” On March 23rd, seven days after the COVID crisis forced closure of all…

As yet, there is no Standard Operating Procedure from the Centre or the state on this. But as uncertainty around reopening of schools drags on, at least some private schools in Mumbai have launched online classes to try and complete the syllabus of the current academic year. But the online learning system and the way it is being implemented by schools, is finding little support from parents. According to a survey conducted by the India Wide Parents Association (IWPA), a four-year-old Mumbai-based pan-India parents association, 80% of parents it polled are not in favour of virtual classes for their children.…

The adage, ‘Catch them young,’ is associated with imbibing children with values. This dictum holds good when it comes to educating school children on road safety and making them change agents for safety and influencing the larger citizenry. A step in this direction was taken through the establishment of the first School Safety Zone at St. Joseph’s School (CBSE), Bengaluru.  The School Safety Zone is a result of 3Ms’ initiative Young Change Agents for Road Safety (YCARS) in partnership with Concern for Road and Pedestrian Safety (CoRPS) and United Way of Bengaluru. The initiative was launched on 19th November in…

The recent Bollywood release Chichore may have been dismissed as a clichéd story. But its theme – depression among school and college students – is becoming a serious issue, especially in big cities like Mumbai. India has one of the highest suicide rates in the world among youth in the 15-29 age group and depression is one key cause for this. Though media did report two recent incidents, that of a 24 year old student, from Assam studying at the School of Architecture and Planning (SPA) who committed suicide due to mental pressure and that of a 29-year-old student of…

As the country observed Teacher's Day, it was time to celebrate a fundraiser held recently in Bengaluru. The money collected through the first-of-its-kind initiative in Whitefield will help renovation of Government Lower Primary School at Chikkanakundi in Anekal Taluk. On August 24, Forum Neighbourhood Mall hosted InnQuizzitive 2019, a quiz for a cause organized by Inner Wheel Club of Bangalore IT Corridor (IWCBITC). As enthusiastic quizzers vied for the honours in the atrium on the ground floor, scores of visitors watched the spectacle from the sidelines. On a Saturday filled with fun and brimming with questions, Mr Hrishikesh Varma of…

Just like many students, I switched schools after 10th standard, and in the first week at my new school, I experienced a culture shock of sorts. Till 10th standard, I went to Prakriya Green Wisdom School, which had a very strict health-food-only policy. All the students ate in the school canteen that prepared simple meals from organic, minimally-processed material – some of which was even grown on campus.  The menu included dosa, idli, or poha for snack, roti or rice with sambar, a salad, a vegetable dish, buttermilk and payasam for lunch. Birthdays were celebrated with chikkis; chocolates or any…