To ascertain the impact that the lockdown has had on teaching and learning as well as to focus on the aspects once schools reopen, the Forum for Child Friendly Schools (FCFS) and Unicef are carrying out a Statewide review.
Teachers can participate in the review which has been envisioned as a participatory planning exercise, through the FCFS app. “So far, around 4,600 teachers from government as well as private schools have taken this up. The review has been designed by teachers and coordinators who are a part of the FCFS since they will have a better understanding of how COVID-19 and the lockdown has impacted school education,” said Shyam Sundar, Director, Solar Trust, an NGO, which is a part of the forum.
The review has around 41 questions for teachers such as how many students they were able to contact, whether they were able to teach them, when they think schools should reopen, what sort of awareness needs to be given to the parents and teachers before schools reopen and how students will travel to school among others.
Additionally, it also aims to ascertain what aspects with regard to infrastructure, sanitation, physical and mental health and learning need to be focused upon once schools reopen.
The FCFS app which teachers have to log in to for the review, also has content to sensitise teachers about the measures they can adopt to educate students about for preventing the spread of COVID-19.
“Since the State government has now constituted an expert group to look into academic and teaching issues arising due to COVID-19, we will hand over our inputs based on the review to them,” said Akila Radhakrishnan, Social Policy Specialist, UNICEF- Tamil Nadu.
The expert group constituted by the government which is headed by the School Education Commissioner is in the process of holding stakeholder consultations and examining the steps that need to be taken. Teachers associations as well as activists have been submitting recommendations to the committee as well.
