Coimbatore: With offline classes deferred for students up to Class VIII due to spread of new Omicron variant, private schools are once again planning to switch to online mode to ensure that the learning process is not affected.
According to private school managements, resuming offline classes will be pivotal if Omicron stays longer.
School education department will rely on the recently-launched Illam Thedi Kalvi scheme to bridge the learning gap among students of Classes I to VIII.
Even though online classes were yielding limited results, students in the lower classes were kept engaged in academic activity until offline classes resumed in November. This was unlike in the government schools where students had to rely on textbooks and Kalvi Tholaikatchi scheme.
Students in lower classes in government schools are facing serious learning gaps. For instance, a child who was in Class 1 in 2019-20 is now in Class III after half of the class I and the entire Class II spent at home due to the lockdown. “But the last two months have been useful for teachers to forge a bond with the students, thanks to offline classes,” said a government schoolteacher from Ukkadam.
Many students could not recognise their teachers when offline classes resumed in November. “But the gap has been filled. This is likely to help us in the coming days even if there are no offline classes. But only offline classes can help government school students to learn effectively,” said the teacher.
Chief education officer N Geetha said that the department is relying on the Illam Thedi Kalvi programme for government school students to keep track of academic activity. While selection of volunteers for the scheme is in the final stage in many places, it will be streamlined in the coming weeks.
President of Tamil Nadu Private School Association R Visalakshi said it would be too early to predict prolonged lockdown as restrictions are announced only till January 10. “We need to wait at least till the end of January. We can resume classes if Omicron subsides and even otherwise, we can restart online classes to keep track of academic activity for students in the lower classes,” he said.
According to private school managements, resuming offline classes will be pivotal if Omicron stays longer.
School education department will rely on the recently-launched Illam Thedi Kalvi scheme to bridge the learning gap among students of Classes I to VIII.
Even though online classes were yielding limited results, students in the lower classes were kept engaged in academic activity until offline classes resumed in November. This was unlike in the government schools where students had to rely on textbooks and Kalvi Tholaikatchi scheme.
Students in lower classes in government schools are facing serious learning gaps. For instance, a child who was in Class 1 in 2019-20 is now in Class III after half of the class I and the entire Class II spent at home due to the lockdown. “But the last two months have been useful for teachers to forge a bond with the students, thanks to offline classes,” said a government schoolteacher from Ukkadam.
Many students could not recognise their teachers when offline classes resumed in November. “But the gap has been filled. This is likely to help us in the coming days even if there are no offline classes. But only offline classes can help government school students to learn effectively,” said the teacher.
Chief education officer N Geetha said that the department is relying on the Illam Thedi Kalvi programme for government school students to keep track of academic activity. While selection of volunteers for the scheme is in the final stage in many places, it will be streamlined in the coming weeks.
President of Tamil Nadu Private School Association R Visalakshi said it would be too early to predict prolonged lockdown as restrictions are announced only till January 10. “We need to wait at least till the end of January. We can resume classes if Omicron subsides and even otherwise, we can restart online classes to keep track of academic activity for students in the lower classes,” he said.
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