LEARNING GAPS IN CHILDREN

So finally, the schools have reopened. Classes are inching back to normalcy. And there Are huge learning gaps that will need to be worked on by the schools.

Schools are working on hybrid mode. There are classrooms where some students are in the classroom, while some are at home. There are classrooms where half the students come in on one day and the other half the next day.

For administrators and those not involved with daily teaching routines, this is a good way to solve the issue. The logistics are in place. Schools can run!

A teacher in the classroom today is working almost four times as much he or she would have done regularly to ensure each and every child learns.?There are students in the classroom, and then there are some who join in from home on the designated day. This means teaching twice simultaneously. Even as the teacher is expected to retain hold on those who are physically in the classroom, there is the expectation to manage those who are at home and many a times, surrounded by other distractions. Not all classrooms have two separate teachers for this.

As long as classes were held online, schools were constantly insisting on children following the routine of wearing uniforms, right down to the shoes, sitting in a place with least distraction, packing their bags and lunch boxes, water bottles and behaving as if they were attending school. But these instructions were flouted time and again by the parents at home, who saw no value in wasting their time in doing all this for an online class. And today teachers are at the receiving end of this.

Preschool children, who by this time of the academic year usually know how to open and close their own bags, identify and drink water from their water bottle in their own are unable to do. The motor skills have not developed. They are yet to develop the right techniques of holding the crayons or pencils. Hey, but till last week, all their assignments were in perfect order!

Primary and middle school children who were scoring in their assignments and tests all through the pandemic are now admitting that the parents used to do the work for them. There are huge gaps in the learning, which are to be resolved before the classes go ahead. The basic skills of reading and writing are in focus in many schools now. Schools and teachers are now wondering if a final summative exam will make any logical sense. They would rather use the time to train the children on basic skills so that when the children go to the next class, their foundation is in place.

Schools, principals and teachers now face the daunting task of working with children to unlearn and learn many things. A major skill that they need to focus is to make these children independent of the parent. Research says that students are facing learning gaps up to a year in math skills and reading skills. This is the time schools need to relook at the way they are assessing the children and debate and discuss if an examination is really needed. What we need is to spend the time fruitfully for the next two three months to cover up the learning gaps.?