With the admissions process for the next academic year underway, it is crucial that parents find future-focused schools that can help their children thrive in an uncertain world. Nidhi Tewari, Principal, Ridge Valley School, Gurugram shares her thoughts on how parents should choose school in the post COVID-19 era.
As the admission process for the upcoming academic year 2022-23 kicks off, parents are currently concerned about choosing the right school for their children. The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with social distancing restrictions, has already adversely affected the education system of the country. Almost two years of school closure have left teachers, students, and parents relying on virtual classes. Consequently, the long gap has affected learning outcomes substantially. Despite their convenience, virtual classes do not have the same educational impact as classroom instruction. Moreover, home environments are not necessarily as conducive to learning as schools are. Especially for toddlers aged two to five, playschool or preschool is considered their first step towards education and development of cognitive abilities. Due to the pandemic-induced lockdown, countless children of this age group have been unable to engage in offline classes in the last two years.
Since the effects of the pandemic are waning and schools are being instructed to reopen, it’s time for parents to choose the best school for their children in light of the new normal. Parents should keep in mind that reopening schools alone are not sufficient. In the post-COVID era, schools must deal with several protocols and comply with them proactively.
The first and foremost step is ensuring that the school complies with all COVID-19 regulations to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and staff. The school should ensure thermal screening is done at the school gate to identify symptoms of cough, cold, or fever. Also, it is critical to ensure the teachers and staff members have been vaccinated against COVID-19. It is also important to check how the desks are arranged in the classrooms and if the students follow physical distancing measures during lunchtime. Last but not least, the school must have separate entry and exit gates to prevent overcrowding.
Understand their Action Plan:
Schools should provide students with intensive assistance to help them catch up on the education they have missed over the past two years. For instance, school administrators can plan for remedial classes for Kindergarten and first-grade students to help them get back on track. Therefore, regardless of the school you are considering, make sure you understand how they hope to help their students make up for the gaps in educational experience over the past two years.
Supporting Students’ Mental Health:
School closures and lockdowns led to a surge in child mental health problems due to several factors, including higher levels of anxiety, social isolation, and so on. Children will exhibit a range of emotional reactions as soon as they return to the classroom after a gap of two years. Thus, it is important to ensure the school you choose for your child focuses on restoring children’s mental and physical health. At the same time, it is important to check whether the teachers have the necessary training to ensure the physical and mental well-being of their students. Additionally, they must monitor for signs of anxiety, depression, and aggression in students and take care of their social-emotional well-being. Furthermore, they should help students develop resilience skills so they can deal with the uncertainties in life boldly.
Technology Implementation in Classrooms:
Amidst the uncertainty posed by the pandemic, schools are not only upgrading traditional teaching-learning models but also making preparations for a host of changes. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, advanced technology was increasingly adopted for conducting online classes seamlessly, setting the stage for a new era of learning and teaching. Such advanced technologies can now be utilized to make learning more engaging and innovative. Several future-focused schools are integrating immersive technologies such as AR and VR, into their infrastructure, to provide students with hands-on practical experiences of concepts so that they can learn faster and with ease. Furthermore, even though the new academic year gives reason to believe that the worst of the pandemic may have passed, a seamless and streamlined teaching-learning process needs to be in place for addressing the uncertainties that lie ahead in the COVID-19 era.
Emphasizing Physical Activity
The pandemic caused children to become less physically active, and become increasingly glued to screens. Therefore, to encourage students to spend time outdoors, schools must provide ample opportunities for sports and active outdoor activities to make them physically fit.
The onus of gearing up children for the uncertain post-pandemic world lies in schools. Therefore, as a responsible parent, one must choose an educational institution that prepares your child to face any circumstances the pandemic may bring in the near future. At the same time, the school must ensure your child’s overall development while offering all the facilities he or she will need to stay safe once offline classes begin. You will have an easier time choosing the right school for your child if you consider all the points outlined above.
