The impact that covid has made in the world of education is definitely irreversible. From our lifestyle to our practices, everything has changed from how it was earlier. As people are switching towards the new normal, schooling is coming back to its form. But the concern of the safety of students is something that cannot be eliminated. Talking about the schools, boarding schools presenting a closed structure can apply precautions to rule out the safety concerns for the parents. Here are a few Covid safety precautions for the best boarding schools in India to consider:

What can boarding schools do to ensure safety?

Risk elimination

Before anything comes into picture, it is essential to minimize the risk of infection, only then precautions can be implemented. Here are a few Covid safety precautions the best boarding schools in India need to take care of:

• Regular sanitization and cleaning of the premises
• Ensuring proper ventilation 
• Enhanced cleaning and hygiene regimes
• Reducing the strength for social distancing
• Isolation dormitories for any possible/future outbreaks

Testing and Vaccination

Testing and vaccination is essential for the safety aspects of students, parents and teachers. The following should be considered at the best boarding schools in India:

• Regular and random testing of staff, teachers and children
• Vaccination of staff, teachers and eligible students

Self isolation

To eliminate the spread of infection, it is necessary to effectively manage the ill people. If someone on the campus is not well, they must be immediately isolated and given medical assistance. It is not necessary that a person is infected from Covid, normal flu and fever should also be given proper attention. 

On premise monitoring

The boarding schools in India need to monitor the temperature of the students and if they are following the Covid safety precautions or not:

• Ensure children wear masks at all times especially while they are interacting with other students and staff.
• Get them into the habit of washing their hands on a regular basis. 
• Thermal temperature monitor systems can be effective but not on a large scale. At institutions like boarding schools, AI based monitoring systems are helpful and can be proved better. 

Outbreak management planning

No matter how well things are planned, there is always a chance for things to get wrong. In case of any outbreak, it is essential to have a plan to manage things. Schools should arrange ambulances and emergency medical facilities inside the school premises.

When it comes to the best boarding schools in India, it is possible to manage the safety concerns of students as the people entering and leaving are in the control of the school. For day schools, the concerns amplify as the students have to travel everyday and interact with different people outside of the school as well. Since, education infrastructure can be brought back to its pace only when offline classes start again, it is highly recommended for the educational institutions to follow the best practices. A combined effort from school authorities, parents and students can only bring a positive change. 

Looking for right boarding school for your child, talk to Edustoke counselors and find the best boarding schools in India. 

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The schools in Maharashtra which were earlier closed due to the increasing Covid cases are soon reopening their doors for physical classes. The Maharashtra government announced recently that the schools in Mumbai along with schools in other cities of Maharashtra will start offline classes from Monday, 24th January onwards. The classes will start operating from class I to XII, however the attendance has not been made compulsory.

The guidelines to know about Maharashtra schools reopening 

The schools in Mumbai along with the best CBSE schools in Mumbai have to follow the given guidelines:

• The schools will operate classes from 1 to 12 in a hybrid culture, where students and parents can opt for offline or online lectures. 
• It is not compulsory for the students to attend offline classes, it depends on the parents concern and child’s willingness if they want to attend the online classes.
• The students attending offline classes need to follow all the preciations like wearing masks, maintaining social distancing at all times and avoiding overcrowding. Schools need to ensure all this and the proper sanitization of school premises.
• The teaching and non teaching staff of the school need to contribute for this reopening following the COVID-19 guidelines strictly. 
• The students who are willing to attend offline classes need to carry a copy of ‘Consent Letter’ duly signed by their parents while coming to the school. The schools have to ensure collecting these forms from them before the school reopen. The students failing to submit the Consent form will attend classes in online medium only. 
• The schools have the responsibility of disinfecting and sanitizing the school campus before reopening and also at regular intervals and at times needed. 
• The vaccination of children will be continued. The students studying in schools in the BMC area should be vaccinated.

Besides, Maharashtra and many other states are also thinking about reopening schools. While the vaccination drives for children are operating at full capacity, other states might start physical classes super soon. The best CBSE schools in Hyderabad are also demanding reopening schools for students. The Telangana Recognised School Managements’ Association (TRSMA), has criticised the holiday extension for educational institutions due to increase in Covid-19 cases, along with demand to resume offline classes from February 1.

Well, given the degrading infrastructure of education, resuming offline classes is highly imperative, however the safety and surveillance of students on campus should go hand in hand to operate offline lectures effectively. 

Find the CBSE Schools in Chandigarh here. 

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The beginning of 2022 has also initiated a rapid rise in the number of Covid cases in India. Given the current circumstances, it is quite certain that the third wave is ‘almost inescapable’. Most of the states have already shut down the schools and the other states are planning for the same. Switching back to online classes is again a challenge but amidst the chaos, it looks like the only option left for the safety of students. The following content piece evaluates the situation of Covid Lockdown And Schools.

India reported around 37,000 Covid cases on 3rd January 2022 bringing the active cases tally to more than 1 lakh, after growing exponentially since last week. With such a surge of cases, Indian states have rolled out new guidelines and restrictions among which the first one is closing the educational institutions. As of now schools in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Telangana, and Goa are closed for offline classes. While in other states like Uttar Pradesh, schools are closed due to winter vacations and the government is yet to decide about reopening them. So, if there will be another lockdown due to Covid, schools need to prepare beforehand to handle the virtual classes effectively. 

Vaccination for kids

Among the new guidelines and restrictions, the government has also started the vaccination for kids between the ages of 15 to 18 from 3rd January. And on the first day of children vaccination, more than 40 lakh teens got their jabs. The children are supposed to receive Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, in two doses 28 days apart. The ongoing vaccination drives might reduce some of the stress of the parents. But the children who are not in this age bracket are still under the question mark for safety. While some states have closed the schools, other states like Karnataka have imposed restrictions in schools to delay the functions and programs till Jan 15. Also, only the children whose parents have got both vaccination doses are allowed to attend the offline classes. The same guidelines are for boarding schools in Karnataka. 

Challenges in online classes

Online classes might be the present solution to ensure the safety of kids, it is not a feasible option for learning. Offline classes have always been appreciated for their all-inclusive, effectiveness, and measurable stand which cannot be achieved in an offline class setting. Besides, numerous challenges like lack of teacher’s training for online classes, digital divide, communication and understanding gap, etc. affect the learning progress of children. The prime advantage of a physical classroom is studying with peers, the absence of which in online classes leads to increased cases of mental health issues. All of this cannot forget the exclusion of sports and co-curricular curbing the innate interests and talents of students. 

As of now, schools can wait till the situation gets normal and schools are opened again. While the states where schools are still functioning offline can ensure the surveillance and safety of students with updated techniques for surveillance like AI-powered temperature monitoring, rapid action team to handle complexity, rotational hours, small class strength, and sanitization of premises at short intervals. Considering the day school and boarding schools, surveillance and safety are easier to implement in boarding schools as compared to day schools as the children, staff, and visitors are limited. And the resources can be optimally utilized. But when it comes to day schools, the resources are limited and the diversity of students is broad which increases the complexity in monitoring. 

This is a tough time for everyone, and the constant shutting down of schools is degrading the education infrastructure, reducing the quality of education, and passing out unskilled students which is again a bigger problem for the future which demands an implementable action plan to improve K12 education degradation due to Covid and shutting down of schools. Find the best boarding schools in Karnataka here.

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Covid is back with another variant, Omicron and the slowly regained pace of the world is again foggy with so many questions and doubts. The fear of another global surge of Covid-19 cases is sending jitters around the corner, spurring a new round of restrictions. The schools just reopened offline classes are again reconsidering if it is a good idea to call children to attend offline school. Before things go out of hand, it’s time to reanalyze things and reckon the possible effect of the Omicron variant on education infrastructure.

Education sector under the Omicron distress

Two men were tested positive for the Omicron variant of Covid on Thursday, 2nd December in Karnataka. These were the first two cases of the variant in India, and in less than a week the cases have reached 23 in four states Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Rajasthan. This is a matter of concern and can be a projection for the third wave. 

While keeping a note of testing, case numbers, and tracing the affected people is one side of the row, the other one has concerns for what should be done to protect the people. When the first two Omicron cases were found in Karnataka, the government imposed some restrictions delaying the functions and gatherings in schools and universities for two months. And with the rising number of cases, new restrictions have been announced. The Karnataka government has announced that the children of only vaccinated parents (both doses) are allowed to attend offline classes. But the concern does not end at restrictions, the prominent question here is whether continuing offline classes should be the case for kids who are not vaccinated even with a single dose and under the radar of infection more than adults or any other part of society. And in such circumstances, closing schools once again makes the education sector back to where it was months ago. 

What can be done? Is my child safe?

The schools started taking classes offline after a very long time. Although online education was playing its part, the actual crux of learning was missing. Slowly and steadily, children were back to school but the new variant has spoiled the growth and has pushed parents back to the corner of doubt and fear. 

Revenue minister R Ashoka said after a meeting that the Omicron-induced diseases are milder and not as fatal as reported unofficially. The center has asked the NCBS – National Centre for Biological Sciences to prepare a detailed report after which the impact of variants can be known. 

Well, it is too early to decide and come to a conclusion that the Omicron variant is more deadly or dangerous. WHO and GlaxoSmithKline and various scientists have found the Covid vaccine to be seemingly effective against the new variant and there is no evidence that it is more fatal than other Covid variants. WHO earlier labeled Omicron as a mutation variant of serious cases has now said that vaccines are likely to protect against the most severe cases. WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan tweeted that vaccination and public health measures can combine an effective strategy against the Omicron variant. 

Is the variant severe for kids?

Dr. H.K. Mahajan, Anaesthesiologist at the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, Vasant Kunj said that as the Omicron variant is concerned, there is no hazard to children as people are panicking. But as a country, we are prepared as we have sufficient pediatric wards and pediatricians and needed infrastructure. 

Besides, there is a lot of evidence that says it is too soon to worry about the severe impact of the Omicron variant, it cannot be taken lightly too. The decision of the Karnataka government to allow children whose parents have taken both doses of vaccination is well thought out and other states need to take their steps towards the safety of children. As of now social distancing, encouraging wearing masks, and getting vaccinated (for those who haven’t) is the need of the hour. And the people who are feeling sick are encouraged to be at home and parents to take special care of their wards especially if they are sending them to school.

Omicron variant on education infrastructure– The precautions

If the online classes are an option, it will be great to consider that as the holiday season is approaching and along the same the need to emphasize on taking precautions becomes more essential than ever. As of now, the circumstances of sending the child to school is more or less the same as it was when schools reopened. But since the Omicron variant is out in India, it is better to be safe than at risk.

The admissions to the new session have already begun and most of the schools have made the process online. While parents are afraid to send their children to school, it can be the right decision considering the present situation. What will be the effect of the Omicron variant on education infrastructure can be a matter of discussion only after its analysis is completely done. As of now, parents are encouraged to take all precautions and encouraged for online classes and once things go back to normal, they can send their kids to school. 

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Covid 19 has impacted almost all sectors, but the education sphere seems to have got an upside-down movement. Online education has been pounding up for a few decades now but its use was confined to skilling and buoyed by self-learning. When classes were suspended to enforce social distancing, educational institutions shifted to online learning and evaluation. And even after more than two years, there is no certainty about restoring normalcy. For now, we can say, this is kind of a permanent tilt if not a complete shift. But the question here in India is, do we have the bandwidth for online education and what are the virtual learning challenges? Let’s find out!

The modes of e-learning presently in sight

India is a diverse country with people from rural and urban areas with different priorities in terms of education, learning, technology access, and more. The most popular mode of online education in India is WhatsApp followed by phone calls, online platforms like Zoom, Meet, etc. No doubt e-learning has its own set of advantages but in a country like India with a huge population, limited access to resources, and technical barriers, this cannot be a feasible option in the long run. We are addressing a few of these virtual learning challenges for students here.

The mountain of Online education challenges

Am I audible? Can you see me? These have been a few common proverbs every house has been used to since the Covid -19 lockdown. School authorities and students have been trying to cope up with the online education stress. Besides, several other virtual learning stem challenges have been sweeping in exposing the flaws of the system. Starting from lack of access to quality education, inclusive education, underqualified teachers are the issues the current crisis turned into. The following content piece will address a few of these virtual learning challenges:

Lack of resources

Not every student in India belongs to a well-off family to be able to afford digital resources- tablet, phone, laptop, internet connection making digital education limited to people who can afford it. Moreover, many distant and remote areas are still far away from continuous power backup, for them getting an active internet connection is just a future story. 

Technical issues

Technical issues have been quite a common virtual collaborative learning challenge for nearly everyone during the pandemic. Be it the office people, teachers or students everyone faced this at some point of time where the video stopped out of nowhere, they were not audible or their video stopped working. A stable internet connection is not feasible every time making learning harder for students.

Distractions and addiction 

Well, digital devices have their own charisma and addiction. Many parents complained during the lockdown that their children have been using digital devices more than ever. Moreover, a large fraction of classes ditched online classes and hopped on to social media platforms during their classes. 

Exposure to devices for long periods

With the schools running online, students have been sitting with digital devices for a minimum of 6-8 hours a day. This increase in screen time is putting strain on the eyes making eyes weak. Moreover, using devices for such a long time has many other issues as well like sleep deprivation leading to insomnia, increased obesity risk, susceptibility to chronic diseases, cognitive ability loss, socializing skills impairment, weakened emotional judgment, delayed learning, and more.

Degrade in learning quality

Digital exposure is not ideal for the holistic development of students. It can be confined to some parts but for real confidence, social and skill development an environment of the real world is needed. Instead of taking notes, students prefer to take screenshots, exams have been just copy-paste, assignments have no practicality, books have been far away from sight, and inquisitiveness is replaced by Google. Schools nurture students in a motivated and enthusiastic environment where they can explore the best of them, but online classes have degraded the quality of learning with the least actual growth of students. 

Underqualified teachers and unfamiliar students

No one was prepared for this shift to online education and with this sudden thrust, it has been hard for everyone to adjust. Schools have computers as a subject where students learn how to learn, use and work on computers. Both students and teachers are not that tech-savvy to get along with this pace of online learning in a short span. Both are facing a hard time learning how to use digital devices. 

Pressure on teachers

Since the inception of education in India, it has always been in an environment of social interaction. Teachers have always been trained to teach students in schools, with hardly any involvement in online learning. Because of e-learning, teachers have to work overtime preparing a well-structured curriculum that can benefit students while learning online. This has imposed a lot of pressure on teachers to make learning effective and beneficial for students. And despite putting in so much effort, many complaints were reported from teachers about misconduct by students, abuse, and whatnot. 

Virtual engagement

Learning is best done in an interactive atmosphere where everyone is putting in their best effort to ask, answer and evolve. Virtual learning has this imperative element of learning, real-time interaction missing from it. Though many schools have tried to make students get involved in activities and co-curricular to make things better but being online the most of them were proven futile. 

Misuse

With technology comes responsibility and the minds of children are not that mature to decide what is good for them and what is not. With the forever availability of digital devices in their hands, children are using them more as a means of entertainment than a means of learning. They spend more time binge-watching shows, playing games, and spending time on social media. 

The list of virtual learning challenges for teachers and students of e-learning is long. But given the pandemic situation, being away from social interaction is the only way out to teach children. Since Covid-19 is not something that will disappear all of a sudden, virtual education is here to stay for long if not in complete adaptation, in a hybrid manner. The environment of the school is necessary to fulfill the aim of education and make children come out as better citizens of society. But given the time and circumstances, we need to balance the virtual learning opportunities and challenges of e-learning and ensure it is beneficial and making an impact. 

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The uncertainty pertaining to board exams and results, cancellation or conducting them has been creating mayhem for a long time.  While it might have seemed that the government has been involved in more than a handful of matters concerning national importance, the CBSE & ICSE board exams and results were definitely one of them.

According to sources it can be happily accepted that no exams are going to be conducted in July. Be it left over papers for 12th standard and 10^th standard or even supplementary after announcement of results. One is sure that students are not stepping out in July in order to write papers of any sort. So what happens to the results? How will they be calculated?

The Ministry of HRD has been receiving requests from state governments across the country to not have students move out of their homes in July. Besides with the uncertainty and frequent re-alignment of containment zones, having students conveniently step out of home on the day of exam is also not looking like a possibility. Several schools have also been identified as COVID19 centres.

Given all these concerns coupled with student anxieties and apprehensions, the decision on conducting exams and declaring the result soon has been finally taken.

The results will be calculated in different manners for different categories of students.

Category 1

Students who have given all papers or more than 5 need not appear for any exam. Their result will be calculated on the basis of these exams written.

Category 2

Students, who have written 4 papers and were to attempt the others, will get marks on the left out 5^th paper on the basis of the best 3 exams. So an average of the best 3 exams written will be calculated as the marks obtained in the 4^th paper.

Category 3

Students, who have written 3 papers and were to attempt the others, will get marks on the left out 4^th paper on the basis of the best 2 exams. So an average of the best 2 exams written will be calculated as the marks obtained in the 4^th paper.

Category 4

Students from certain parts of Delhi who could not write some exams owing to riots will be given results on the basis of internals and practical assignments. They will also be given an option to attempt these exams again when they occur as supplementary to improve their performance if required.

All results will be declared by the 15^th of July and the dates to appear for the supplementary exams will be declared thereafter if the situations are conducive.

This announcement has surely given a sigh of relief to most CBSE students. Now will ICSE also follow this pattern or will they devise another strategy is what we are hoping to understand soon. 

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