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Tag: Covid-19

Dos and Don’ts for students in classroom as COVID-19 cases rise across India

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in India, it is important for both school authorities as well as students to take extra precautions both inside and outside the classroom in order to prevent the spread of the virus. This article aims to discuss dos and don’ts for students and teachers in the school or classroom.
There were some reports doing rounds over the internet that children are less prone to COVID-19 and even if they develop symptoms they are less likely to fall severely ill. However, no doctor and no study has confirmed it, therefore, especially parents are advised to not believe such unreliable and inauthentic reports on the internet as this is just a myth.
Here are some dos and don’ts for school children amid a rise in coronavirus cases;
Dos
Vaccination: Although a large number of the country’s population is now vaccinated, it is important to get fully vaccinated against the coronavirus if you have not yet taken both shots. COVID-19 vaccination is highly essential for every student and teacher in the school in order to keep yourself and others protected too.
Mask Up: The first and foremost part of the COVID-19 precautions is to wear a mask. As cases are on the rise across the country, you must start wearing masks in school and classrooms. This is essential in capping the spread of the virus.
Physical Distancing: Stay at least six feet away from others when and where possible. Avoid large gatherings or places that are crowded such as the school canteen and playground.
Wash Hands Regularly: Make it a habit of washing hands at regular intervals or carry a hand sanitizer in your bag that contains at least 60% alcohol for effectiveness.
Don’ts
Don’t Go to School If You’re Sick: If you feel sick or have any symptoms of COVID-19 then first of all do not step out of your home and don’t go to school so that you don’t spread the virus to others. Take the doctor’s advice at the earliest.
Don’t Panic: Even if any student develops any symptom of the virus during school hours then do not panic. All you need to do is just wear your mask and maintain a physical distance from that student or any other person having symptoms.
Don’t Share Your Food: Students should not share food items. Avoid having group lunches during this time.
India recorded 5,676 new COVID-19 cases, while the active caseload increased to 37,093, according to the data updated by the Union health ministry on Tuesday. The death toll has risen to 5,31,000 with 21 deaths.
It should be noted that as of now, no state government has recently announced the closure of schools due to the rise in coronavirus cases. However, if the cases continue to spike then governments may shut schools as we have seen earlier. Students will also be notified regarding the same by the schools.

April 11, 2023
Why Schools Are Still Closed?

The schools and colleges were closed due to Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. For the whole academic year of 2020-2021, the schools have remained closed, resulting in loss of classroom teaching. The schools were asked to start online teaching without giving them adequate time for preparation and training. This has resulted in a huge gap between the haves and have-nots. Whereas schools in cities especially the ones supported by large corporate houses or with brand names were able to make effective online teaching easily, that why still Why Schools are Still Closed? but most other schools struggled for resources and expertise which was not available to schools as well as to teachers and students. Apart from this, the teaching time was reduced to two hours per day only. Why Schools are Still Closed?

Because of this, the schools were forced to cut down the syllabus and neglect completely the subjects other than main subjects. Since the motive of schools, as well as total, orientate of our education system is just to get a good score in the examination with less concern for the overall development of the personality of students. The result is that due to lack of social and cultural activities all students are facing different types of psychological pressure,

Another trend that is very disturbing is being noticed that students in ching as soon as possible . To begin with students may be asked to come only two days per week only and classes have shown scant respect for teachers often crossing the boundaries of decency. that Why Schools are Still Closed? The online examination system has given opportunity for cheating and is spreading fast among students. The decision of the government to go for offline board examination without classroom teaching will certainly be disastrous for students of schools with limited resources and also to students of poor families living in villages and small towns.

Now that the various boards have decided to postpone the examinations by two months , it will be in the interest of the students and education system to start classroom teaching as soon as possible To begin with students of class VI to XII may be asked to come atheist two days per week. The students with valid reasons only may be exempted from attending the classes.It is hoped that atheist those states where the covid19 cases are negligibly small will open schools soon.

The author is a former professor of electrical engineering AMU Aligarh.
Mukhtar Ahmad

November 7, 2022
Has Covid19 Given Us A Chance To Change The Academic Year To January – December?

The Covid19 pandemic has compelled the government, schools & colleges to push the start of the new academic year to September 2020 instead of June 2020; further parents & their unions are not ready to send their wards till Covid19 pandemic completely stops.

Can this be considered as a chance to change the archaic academic year from the current April – March to January – December?

It is also pertinent to note that the Central Government wishes to shift the financial year to January-December from the current April-March pattern.

The move is aimed to align it with the agriculture production cycle and as well as suits India much well now than the British era. The current academic year was decided at the convenience of the British since Indian summers were unbearable by them and so they decided to keep those months (April, May) as vacations.

India has been following the April-March financial fiscal year since 1867 and maybe the same time around the academic year too.

As it is the government education departments are planning to keep the current academic year from September 2020 to April 2021 with the reduced syllabus. Can we take a little pause and think over this?

If planned properly (and we have the time for planning too) this is the chance to change the academic year as of January – December. If the academic year is done from January to December, it can prove to a very good academic improvement. This will be similar to the international education system of the ‘Spring’ admission season.

Some suggestions for implementing the new academic year from January 2021:

1. The pending final year and semester examinations for the academic year 2019-2020 can be taken somewhere between October-November 2020, by which it can be hoped that the Covid19 pandemic would be in much better control. The backlog and ATKT students can also be allowed to appear for examinations in this period.

2. Results of all (regular, backlog, and ATKT) examinations can be declared by December 2020, and the start of the school and college can be done from January 2021. Doing this will help in removing the apprehension in the minds of students and parents about being called the ‘Covid batch’!

3. The months of June to September can be spent studying new teaching methods and planning their implementation. This will help educators to get trained and be ready for the new normal. The hybrid model of teaching (classroom and online) can also be implemented.

4. If the academic year starts from January, then there will be continuity in teaching as there are not many long festivals till June. Holidays can be given in peak time rainy season for any natural calamities. Diwali can be one week off, post which sports / cultural activities and exams can be conducted in Nov/Dec.

I feel this should be discussed and brainstormed by educationists & government, jointly.

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June 22, 2020
Understanding Happiness In Covid Crisis

Being needonomist, I am ready to change my looks, actions, and words (LAW) which is the real law of the universe for happiness in present times of covid crisis with material miseries. It is believed by most of the people that a person possessing resources of all kinds including financial and physical is happy.

The reality is just the opposite. In my considered opinion, a happy person possesses the resources to enjoy happiness and is comfortable with the resources possessed without any grievances and grudges against anyone in society.

It is pertinent to mention that if someone asks me about my retired life from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, I say that I am enjoying romantically with a smile on my face for which I am known to my friends in and out of India.

To my mind, happiness is a state of mind that is fully dependent on the ‘sanskaras’ imbibed from our forefathers and parents. We can identify many people who really laugh and make people laugh despite the problems faced due to lack of resources including political poverty and patronage of the politicians.

We have to create stronger interdisciplinary partnerships in all walks of life. It is pertinent to mention that consumerism in India through mall culture is polluting the mindset for overspending and living life of miseries.

To achieve happiness, the keywords are cherished, nourish, and flourish and make others happy. We have to be alert, aware, and awake with vivek and wisdom. We need to weigh long term benefits over short term gratifications for positive developments in life.

To move forward in life, one needs to accept self as others as they also have a sense of purpose.

We have to learn to cherish what is there in good relationships with changed perspectives. We need to reduce stress, anxiety, and guilt (SAG) of what we cannot do. We can start doing, even small things for the family on a daily basis.

We have to invest 15 minutes of the time to convey the gratitude to everyone around in the society and above all god. We need to maintain our relationships with the heart of fairness, gratitude, and honesty. We have to do duties with diligence for self-empowerment with enlightenment.

We need to accept the present situation of the covid crisis and make better use of what we have for our happiness.

The greedonomics (economics of greed) can be checked and controlled by adopting spirituality which elevates consciousness for needs only. It develops a sense of caring and commitment for humanity by adopting needonomics and becoming street smart as consumers, producers, distributors, and traders.

We need a spiritual outlook and sensitivity for fostering environmental consciousness. Spirituality opens our eyes to the beauty of nature and life. We have to learn to honor the sanctity of the environment in all its dimensions social, economic, and physical. Every place and time is sacred for doing good work with the honesty of purpose.

It is to be noted that greed has made us insensitive to issues like environment, non-violence, corruption, terrorism, and peace. We can carry the burden, however hard, can do the work, and can live life sweetly, lovingly, purely and lonely which really means life to us.

In my humble opinion, to remain annoyed, angry, worried, and unhappy is the mental weakness and not the prevailing situations and environment. This is a sign of backwardness in a strict sense of Indian perspectives of spirituality- the spirit to know actuality as the science of the soul.

I trust and believe that a balanced approach in a human being is necessary and sufficient for happiness without fear (false evidence appearing real). A person with this kind of approach understands to laugh over the matters of serious nature and avoid stress and tensions.

It is to be noted carefully that there is not a single person on this earth who has not faced difficulties, obstacles, and hurdles along with facilitative set up called infrastructure and all comforts of life.

I believe that I am better than many millions of people in the globalized society of today. Let us believe that happiness is a gift of God, deserves to be enjoyed with grace and a positive mindset. The amount of happiness is a function of real education which means to me is proper, productive, and practical (3P) of hands, head, and heart (3H).

We need to learn to locate happiness in everything and everywhere around us. We have to believe in GOD and the good wishes of the people, we are living with passion. We are required to learn to see and find goodness in people around us instead of finding faults with the blame games and war of words.

We have to stop blaming GOD for the discriminations, disparities, and denials of various kinds. We have to accept the obstacles and hurdles as challenges. These are given to a person who is capable of handling them with capacities and carefulness.

We have to stop doing empirical research on the negative mindsets, faults, and bad habits of others and scarcities for the self. We have to say no to indecisiveness, stress, and strain for the sake of happiness for the real self and others in society.

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June 14, 2020
High Time For Academics To Prepare For Unlocking In New Normal
Academic institutions of the country are closed since the last week of March 2020. The likelihood of COVID-19 infection spread in the students, teachers & staff has kept them closed even when the unlocking has begun. The teaching-learning processes in educational institutions depend largely upon human interactions.

The public speaking by teachers in the class, interactions among students in the class & outside, and the laboratory activities make it vulnerable to getting infected. The residential campuses have the additional challenge of keeping the stay conditions congenial for avoiding mutual infection.

Present circumstances indicate that society has to prepare itself for living with care to avoid COVID-19 infection. COVID-19 is setting a new normal in which every sector functions effectively while preventing itself from getting effected. Therefore, the education system of the country has to prepare for the new normal as the lockdown can not continue for very long.

Already, there has been a dent in the education delivery system due to sudden disruption. Though online education mode came to rescue, the realities are different and stakeholders considered it as an arrangement to keep the teaching process on. Given the prevailing digital divide, it is not possible to get a quality education for all through online education. The on-campus teaching process should start in the educational institutions at the earliest.

Numerous virtual meetings are happening in the regulating bodies of the country for creating a strategy to ensure the safe operation of academic institutions in the post lockdown phase. Quite likely apex regulators may give some more guidelines, but the moot point is the preparations at the institution end.

In all cases, the prevailing building infrastructure, campus facilities, teaching-learning processes, availability of the human resource, financial capacity, boarding arrangements, no of day scholar students, IT facilities, etc. of the respective institution will affect their unlocking plan. Nothing much is visible in terms of the institutions preparing themselves for unlocking.

Conventionally, the academic sessions have been beginning in the months of July-August every year. So, it is high time for every institution to evolve an inclusive and acceptable operational plan that integrates safety in instructional arrangements of theory and laboratory classes, living arrangements, and all other activities in the institution campus in light of coronavirus.

Education providers across the globe are vigorously working out the plans to bring back educational activities with the safety of all humans on campus. The COVID-19 recovery plans of different educational institutions can help nucleate some ideas for how to go about, but the institution has to prepare its own strategy.

It is advisable to invite suggestions from all stakeholders i.e. teachers, students, staff, and parents about the possible actions to be taken for preparing institutions for unlocking itself for the students and resumption of teaching-learning activities on the campus.

The feedback taken from all stakeholders will infuse confidence in coming back to a new normal which is to live with the threat of coronavirus infection. Here is a viewpoint on some of the possible measures which could help the academics to create their specific opening plan based on inputs from all.
1. Divide every class in small batch sizes as per the size of the available classroom/laboratory.
2. Have rolling occupancy in the classrooms and laboratories
3. Institutions may have staggered working hours to cater to the teaching-learning requirements.
4. Scatter the physical facilities on the campus as the measure to de-densify the existing spaces.
5. Drinking water /toilet/washbasin fittings are made non-touch type to the extent possible.
6. Make institutional arrangements for placing sanitizers and hand wash at the entrance of the respective buildings and all critical locations.
7. Internet / Wi-Fi be ensured on the campus and all classrooms & laboratories are equipped with audio-visual facilities.
8. All teachers should be provided with the facilities to record and transmit digital learning resources at the institutional platform.
9. Students be permitted to bring their own devices for accessing IT services.
10. Encourage students to carry their water bottles for drinking water, stationery items, computational devices, etc.
11. Extensive cleaning arrangements be made for cleaning of whole premises at a higher frequency for effective sanitization.
12. Learning management systems be used for transacting learning resources with the students.
13. All financial transactions in the institution and other utilities/shops on the campus are performed digitally.
14. Official working is made paperless by the use of institutional ERP software/emails.
15. Boarding facilities be sanitized regularly.
16. Mess workers to be trained for maintaining hygiene and sanitization in the complete mess premises.
17. Routine check-up of all hostel residents should be done and the record maintained.
18. All students and employees of the institution are encouraged to speak out the ill-health issue at the health center of the institution which should maintain confidentiality to avoid panic in the community.
19. Encourage students to use the online learning resources / online interaction with teachers for doubt clearing.
20. The use of a face mask/covering of mouth & nose is compulsory in the institution.
21. Physical distancing is followed strictly and larger gatherings prohibited.
22. Student activities to be encouraged with a smaller size of audience ensuring physical distancing and the same be webcast on the institution’s media / social network for the rest of the students.
23. Arrangements to be made for thermal scanning of those coming from outside to the institution.
24. Make all other necessary arrangements suited to the institution for infusing confidence in the student community about their safe return to campus.
With the unlocking already started in the country, the academic institutions should gear up to remodel their campuses for avoiding the COVID-19. Every institution must plan for surviving with coronavirus and resume teaching-learning activities as directed by the regulators.

The preparation of an institution-specific operational plan will take time, so the activities need completion in a time-bound manner. Institutional preparedness should be such that the students and their parents are fearless of the coronavirus infection upon getting back to studies.

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June 8, 2020