Schools set up Skype classrooms to make up for lost time

Students may have considered Chennai’s Met Man, S.R. Ramanan a godsend for infallibly predicting rain and having school managements promptly declare a ‘rain holiday’. It was short-term gratification. They may have stayed home and played board games, read a favourite author and kept dry, but the same children are now feeling the pinch of all those unscheduled holidays cumulatively: there are unfinished portions to cover and a mad scramble to finish before term ends and exams loom up.

Schools remained closed for more than 25 days due to the rains. They reopened in the last week of November after over two weeks of remaining shut, and had to yet again close when the downpour resumed and the situation got worse. Staff members, who are just as concerned as their students are about the time that they have lost, have taken recourse to technology to compensate for all those hours that slipped by. From conducting classes on Skype to emailing regular assignments to students, schools are trying their best to help the children feel confident and on top of the curriculum again.

KRM Public School, Perambur is conducting classes on Skype for Class XI – IX students. “We have tried Skype classes for the past two days and around 50 per cent of the students have been able to connect with us online. The teachers came up with the idea. Around 16 of them, whose houses were not flooded, have been coming to school to conduct classes on Skype. Subjects like English, science, social science and maths are being taught,” says RJ Bhuvanesh, CEO of KRM group of schools. He adds that the teachers are only conducting revision classes so that those who cannot connect on Skype are not left out.

Some schools have started sending assignments online so that the students are kept busy during holidays. “At Hindustan International Schools, we started sending homework assignments soon after the schools had to close. Even the kids in the lower classes were given assignments to keep them busy,” says KR Maalathi, advisor to the school.

She also adds that it would be unfair to impose exams on students at this time because some of them might have been displaced or seen the disaster unfold. They’d be in no mental and emotional state to take the additional pressure. Even students at home are utilising the Internet to prepare for their board exams. “Since the rain holidays started in November, I downloaded the previous years’ Class XII question papers to practice. I’ve been Skyping with my classmates and teachers to clear my doubts,” says Poorva S., a Class XII student.

Online academies are flourishing in many disciplines. Carnatic music is being taught remotely. Khan Academy is a valuable resource for students in far-flung areas. So schools in Chennai are catching on to a fairly well entrenched trend in learning at a time of great need.