Spending time with friends and access to overall better learning topped the list of what children were excited about, when they first heard about schools reopening post the Covid closure, according to a joint study by Child Rights and You (CRY) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
Three years back, when the Covid-19 pandemic suddenly changed the entire spectrum of school education and brought forth the new experience of online learning, how did children react to that?
And, after continuing education through online methods for close to one and half years, how did children cope with the experience of going back to school? What were their initial responses as they navigated their learning patterns from online to offline classes? What were some of the dominant social-emotional challenges children experienced as they stepped into schools? And finally, was there any significant impact of re-opening of schools on their academic and social lives?
A recent volunteer-driven study named ‘Reopening of Schools Post Covid-19 Closure: Exploring Children’s Voices and Experiences’, conducted by CRY-TISS set to answer the above questions and many more, as it explored, dug deep and put together children’s experiences in their own voices, and also carefully balanced it with the views and perspectives of parents and teachers.
Going by the findings of the pan-India study, 72.4 per cent of child respondents were excited on first hearing about reopening of schools, as they looked forward to reuniting with their friends, while 61.6 per cent of them were eager to meet their teachers in person. A good 56 per cent of them believed that they would be better able to learn. These are trends that apparently show the challenges they had to face during their online education days.
Restarting non-academic activities and facilities were also what children were looking forward to. ‘Spending time with friends’ (89 per cent) topped the list with ‘overall better learning’ a close second (83.8 per cent). Facilities in school – such as playgrounds, science laboratories, and library facilities - were some aspects that children were eager to get back to, as stated by some respondents of West Bengal: “... there are so many extra-curricular activities in school”, and “... practical classes are important for science students”. Almost similar responses came from the parents and teachers. 71.4 per cent of responding parents believed that ‘back to physical school a good option’ while 36.8 per cent of them said that ‘reopening a positive step towards schooling’.
“The current study, second in the series of studies jointly conducted by TISS and CRY, on the impact of Covid-19, explores the voices of children to understand their cognitions and feelings about reopening of schools,” said Shalini Bharat, Professor, Director and Vice-Chancellor, TISS, Mumbai.
“This report is a labour of concern and love for the cause of children and education and the findings give a range of rich insights into the challenges and hope, so as to provide us all a new reset button to re-imagine the school and if that can assure conducive classroom spaces and action points for all stakeholders,” said Puja Marwaha, Chief Executive of CRY.