Students’ care responsibility of all: Maharashtra education minister – Times of India

Gaikwad said schools, teachers and every stakeholder must take every step possible to ensure that the institutions reopen safely. “However, once they reopen, it will be our responsibility to ensure that the children are safe. Even if there are Covid-19 cases, they need to be handled well by school authorities. Lessons from Hiware Bazar village (in Ahmednagar district) on handling Covid-19 need to be replicated across the state,” she said.

Sarpanch of the Hiware Bazar village Popatrao Pawar was also part of the discussion. He said the village became Covid-free and started offline classes from standard I to X from June 15, and has been successfully doing it for three months.

Pawar said, “We had the support of students and their parents. The parents were sensitised and slowly their reluctance changed to confidence and all the students started coming to school.”

The online discussion was organised by the Maharashtra State Council for Education Research and Training (SCERT). Member of Maharashtra’s Covid-19 paediatric task force Samir Dalwai, said the education department must give a clear indication of the syllabus to the students and also ensure that exams are not conducted immediately.

“The students should be given a minimum two weeks to adjust after a very long gap of homeschooling. They should not be pressured with exams immediately after joining school,” he said. They must be allowed to share their thoughts, mingle, meet and greet their friends and be given time to adjust, he added.

Educator Hemangi Joshi said parents should not insist on vaccination at this point for children. If students have got used to screens and suddenly it is withdrawn from them, these situations should be handled well by the teachers, she added.

Teachers would also need time to settle after joining offline schooling after nearly 18 months, and if they require counselling they should seek support, she said.

Former director of education, Vasant Kalpande, said, “In the initial days, students should be given free time just to talk among themselves, express themselves and acclimatise to physical schooling. Let them talk about Covid-19, and if there are misconceptions, they should be cleared by teachers. In fact, getting rid of screens altogether is not going to be easy as it has now become a part of the system. So, if these devices are used under the guidance of teachers and parents, they would be a good source of learning.”