Schools to focus on well-being as they prep to welcome younger kids

New Delhi: With physical classes restarting for primary school children and younger kids from today (Monday) after a long break, teachers and school heads are focusing on making sure the kids are welcomed back to an environment where they are first made to feel comfortable being back in school campuses.

In addition to the primary focus being on counselling students and providing emotional support so that they readjust to a new normal within their classrooms, many schools are planning to start with soft-skills activities such as interactive sessions and meet-and-greet activities that focus on the child's well-being.

Following the continuous decline in Covid cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority has allowed physical classes for nursery to Class VIII to restart from today. While the younger classes had restarted briefly last year, they were quickly shut down due to pollution and then remained shut owing to the third wave.

The schools have reopened after a long gap and several children may have lost touch with their school surroundings, HoS Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in West Vinod Nagar Dr L.K Dubey said, adding, "Our primary focus is to make the child familiar with the classroom and hold an interactive session with them in the first few days."

Several schools are not calling students for the entire day and instead Nursery till class V is being called for around 3 hours while class VI onwards are being called for the full day — even though most of the focus will be on re-acclimatising them to the new normals in their classrooms.

"We want the child to first get into the habit of coming to school as they have lost touch and have become used to staying indoors," a teacher in Government Girls Secondary school Bharti said.

In the New Delhi Municipal Council-run schools, teachers and school heads have been asked to hold playtime activities, Yoga, prayers and introduction-based discussions (Bal Sabhas), in addition to making sure that children feel at home from day one. Teachers have also been briefed to engage the children in a friendly manner in a bid to make them mentally free from anxiety and stress.

Moreover, all teachers have been asked to regularly brief parents about the safety measures being taken at schools to keep their children safe from possible infection.

However, despite the herculean measures being adopted by the schools, many parents are apprehensive about sending their younger children to schools starting today.

A mother to a 10-year-old, Shweta has been worrying about the safety of her child, saying, "Children often don't pay heed to washing hands properly and take off their masks and play with their friends. The teacher also cannot chase each child and no matter how many times you tell them they will not listen."

Several other problems are concerning parents, especially the office-going parents, who cannot do the pick-up drop duty for their children. "If school buses don't come I am not sending my child. School heads need to look into that," a mother to a 12-year-old daughter, Anjali said.

Anil Bhati, parent of a 7-year-old said, "I would want to send my child but schools have not started transportation yet and I am scrambling to make other logistic arrangements. When schools reopen, the government should also order resumption of transportation services." with pti inputs