The city’s teachers, counselors are helping students to build their mental strength, overcome fear and find workable solutions with ease when they return to school after two years.
The city’s teachers, counselors are helping students to build their mental strength, overcome fear and find workable solutions with ease when they return to school after two years.
Aashna, a Class VI student, started attending school three weeks ago. But every day he asked his parents to pick him up from school early. When Aashna’s parents and teachers finally met to discuss her problem, they realized that the child was so used to being at home for the past two years that she was now struggling to sit in class with others. Was.
Also, her parents were strict about following the COVID protocol at home, so she panicked when Aashna found them missing in the school.
Not only Aashna, there are many children in the city schools who are finding it difficult to cope with the classroom lectures after two years of online classes from the comfort of their homes.
It is not only the learning gap that teachers and parents of children find challenging to handle, but also the mental pressure their children are going through. Given the lack of physical contact with their peers and the absence of routine over the past 24 months, adolescents are going through social anxiety while younger children suffer from separation anxiety.
Many school teachers in the city told HinduStudents found it awkward to be in class with other students as they were kept in front of their computer screens at home for long periods of time. “They are also finding it difficult to interact with each other; And such signals should not be ignored,” he said.
To provide emotional support to students and help them streamline their academic life, the Directorate of Education has directed teachers to go smoothly in the first two weeks of reopening of schools. Teachers were told not to start teaching the new curriculum immediately, but to make it easier for students to focus on their emotional health first.
The period given to students to adjust to the old timetable after a gap ends on April 1, when all classes will go offline.
Clinics launched
As a pilot project, the Delhi government has also started clinics with a psychologist in 20 schools to help students deal with any emotional trauma. Several school counselors told this reporter that they were encouraging students to let go of hesitation and come out fearlessly with their problems so that they could be guided properly.
Garima Seth, a school counselor, Students feel overwhelmed by the pandemic and are therefore facing issues of adjusting to return to school. “They show signs of mood swings and excessive emotions because they have been socially cut off for too long; They are struggling to cope with the pitfalls that many people may face on a personal level and hence it has become difficult for them to focus on academics inside the live classes,” said Ms. Seth. He said that even parents were struggling to deal with the emotional trauma and it was difficult for them to understand what their children were going through.
The teachers told that they were taking extra care to ensure that no student is under any stress. “Two years is a long time for any child. Many have gone through puberty, and are dealing with mental and physical changes. Pooja Chauhan, a teacher at a school in South Delhi, said it is often the students who are bullied or abandoned, making them not want to go to school. She cited instances where students in her class cry suddenly and uncontrollably. “I send them to the school counselor who consoles and guides them,” said Ms. Chauhan.
Parents have reported that the exam pressure in physical mode has turned into a major stress for senior students. “Classes and assessments have been online for so long that the fear of writing exams that could affect their future is scaring them. Students will need some practice to appear in an exam again. Most of them have got used to using tools like typing and grammar to check their work that they are no longer able to write in answer sheets,” said Seema Gupta, class XII teacher.
According to Shilpa Sengar, an educational psychologist, students are excited to return to school. “The school environment has to be made alive for them and they should find the confidence to express their opinion and choice in the form of discussion,” she said.
In his opinion, students from lower classes were facing more problems of an academic rigor because they spent too much time attending classes from the comfort of their homes; Enjoying a small snack or power nap in between classes. He said that for senior students it is a different kind of worry, the fear of taking proper exams after a long time.