08 September 2021, Bhilwara:While online teachinghas proved beneficial so far,the past year and a half has not been easy for the teaching community. These testing times have been completely ‘Out of Syllabus’ for the unsung efforts of ‘Future Line Workers’ – school owners who acted as a mentor to teachers & an educator to students.
Teachers have had to learn how to use devices such as smartphones and laptops, and become adept to using digital software and platforms while also innovating with teaching methods to ensure that students’ learning was uninterrupted. School owners continued to empower teachers, reassure parents and find innovative ways to help students adjust to their new learning environment.
EdTech LEAD, which powers over 2000 schools in K-12 segment across the country, reached out to teachers across India to understand the challenges faced during the pandemic and their expectations towards effective teaching while schools have reopened. Many teachers across Bhilwarafelt that they had to adapt technology to teach students.
Recalling her experience, Divya Babel, Kothari Public School at Bhilwara said, “We didn’t only have to manage students and get them acquainted to the new normal of learning, but we also had to acquaint parents into the ecosystem. LEAD@Home videos helped us to structure lesson plans and manage time while also ensuring solving doubts in a timely manner.”
Another teacher Rachna Pathak from Kothari Public School said, “The biggest challenge was children in rural areas, as students there had bad network connectivity and lacked the resources to attend online classes. Also, it was a challenge to explain the benefits of online learning to their parents who lacked the knowledge of this method.”
LEAD Co-founder and CEO Sumeet Mehta said, “Besides students and parents, teachers too had to brave a lot during the pandemic. The last academic year was particularly challenging as it required them to completely change their outlook and they had zero preparatory time. Schools must provide teachers with the necessary infrastructure such as digital resources so that they can deliver high-quality education to the students in both offline and online formats.
“The prolonged closure of schools had been completely Out of Syllabus and while our future line workers have worked tirelessly to ensure that learning never stopped, the time has come to turn our attention to the reopening of schools across states.”