Children Belong to the Classroom

At the 73rd Republic Day parade, the education ministry's tableau showcased NEP 2020, reiterating its commitment to prioritise education. High-quality education for all and lifelong learning is no more a domestic agenda anywhere in the world. Education is the sheet anchor to bridge the inequalities in society and usher in economic prosperity. The global experiences have proved that the road to prosperity passes through the reformed classrooms.

The pandemic has normalised our collective understanding of the crisis in learning. The unprecedented school closures have exacerbated the inequalities in educational opportunities. The virus's fast mutating variants seem unstoppable even in the wake of a super-fast invention and rollout of vaccines. Schools are the worst affected. A recent Boston Consulting Group report, India Needs to Learn- A case for keeping Schools Open, concludes that India has had pandemic driven school closures for about two years.

The report further says that while many efforts have been made towards online education, penetration and effectiveness remain woefully inadequate. Lack of device, bandwidth, emotional connection with the peers and teachers, increased child exploitation, missing mid-day meals- the only source of nutrition and lack of language and numeracy proficiency will have a cumulative loss of future skills and earnings.

Thankfully the new variant Omicron has spared the intensity and the speed of spread as was widely feared. Vaccines for the children are on the shelf. Governments are better prepared to deal with emergencies, and people are more confident, leaving minimal rationale to keep schools closed. The parents have begun to see the cost of continued shutdowns, students have peaked home fatigue, and the health issues are becoming severe.

Classrooms meant to shape lives are empty, reminding us of all of Susan K Hansen's illustration of a classroom-Thus, the nurturing begins/Within the confines of this chrysalis/Called ‘classroom’/Changing voices can be heard/As 'I cannot' becomes 'I will try' becomes 'I did it! We need to reflect on what has worked and what has not? What have children missed, and how much can we retrieve? These are not easy questions.

As we resume classes after a prolonged deferment, a recommitment has some clues ironically supplied by the experiences during the pandemic itself. Not to miss the basics is one. No classroom can rise above high-quality teacher and teaching. New models of teacher preparedness and development will be helpful. Only a great teacher can transform lives. Technology has played its role; digital equality is new infrastructure. However, it cannot replace a great teacher. Technology can scale access as it should. It should help personalise learning, free up the teacher's time from the mundane work to refocus on the high-value contribution in improving learning.

As the students come back, they will carry the baggage of experiences. Many vital life-changing learning experiences are missing in most of them. Scars of traumas, losses, isolation, uncertainties, learning gaps will require a recommitment to prepare the whole child, a need recognised for a long time, but the urgency is unparallel. Alongside that, preparing the students to adapt to the future needs of work and related skills and competencies should not get out of focus.

Pandemic’s most profound lesson is adaptive leadership and responsive structures and policies. Flexibility is the name of maximising access. NCERT's revised academic calendar during the first wave of the pandemic came in for a global commendation. Schools must draw a cue and reimagine what structural changes in scheduling, remediation, assessments, sports and cultural activities will accelerate resilience building.

"Vedas to Metaverse," the tableau's title, signals the bridging of the past with the present and creating a sustainable future. It must also signal a recognition of the challenges we encounter as we navigate the environment vagaries, severe mental and health issues, rising inequalities, and the rapidly changing face of the future of work. Only a responsive ecosystem will bring back the glory of classrooms as Susan K Hansen scripted in her Metamorphosis.

Ashok Pandey is Director, Ahlcon Group of Schools and Amit Kumar is Director, Shabda-Risk and Consultancy Services and Co-Founder kManthan

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First published in Financial Express, Jan 2022. https://epaper.financialexpress.com/3367870/Delhi/January-31-2022#page/9/1