The month-long summer vacation announced for Classes 1-10 in mid-May has led to the usual exodus of students and their families out of the city for holidays. However many institutions are using the downtime to upgrade the skills of both students and staff, while making learning an enjoyable experience.
The shift between online and offline modes of learning caused by the pandemic has created a knowledge gap that could affect the educational progress of students if left unaddressed, according to school heads.
In pre-pandemic days, schools assigned ‘holiday homework’ with the aim of keeping their pupils interested in academic subjects during vacations. However with the hybrid way of learning prevalent from 2020, the focus has shifted to helping children catch up with delayed lessons.
“We had launched community schooling in around 25 hamlets in Tiruchi district during the pandemic. This year, we have reconfigured it as a rural community outreach programme for children across age groups,” J. Christy Subhadra, correspondent, CREA Children’s Academy, told The Hindu.
The Nagamangalam-based school conducted a three-hour programme of yoga, leisure activities and basic school subjects in Alampatti village on Wednesday. “Our classes are primarily for our students, but anyone else who is interested can also join in. We have seen that keeping a mixed age group helps children to socialise and also understand concepts better,” said Ms. Subhadra.
Sri Sivananda Balalaya School has been holding bridge courses for its students from April 20 to May 20. Its teachers have been undergoing training on learning management systems (LMS) for a month as well.
Besides schools, the parallel system of coaching centres and youth-related institutions are running summer camps that offer short-term courses in both academic and non-academic subjects.
Local science,technology,engineering and mathematics (STEM) education centre Propeller Technologies has been collaborating with other institutions in Tiruchi to conduct classes for children in the rural areas.
“At least 1800 students from villages have attended our classes where we explore subjects like artificial intelligence, space technology and robotics. Besides this, we are conducting a mentorship programme for 10 talented city-based children and those from rural backgrounds to work on full-fledged projects under our guidance. Their ideas, such as an industrial food delivery drone and a hybrid (fuel and electric) two-wheeler, show a lot of promise,” said S. Mohamed Aashik Rahman, CEO, Propeller Technologies.
