Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia addressed more than 300 Head of Departments ( HoDs) of private schools to share and discuss about learnings and parenting during lockdown.
Asking the Principals to refrain from barring any students from online classes, and referring to a previous announcement made by the Delhi Government mandating all schools to allow students to attend their online classes even if their parents have failed to pay the fee, Sisodia said “Considering the unusual times that we all are going through today, the students should not be allowed to suffer because of this. We need to take utmost care while dealing with this issue. So let the students attend the online classes, even if their parents are unable to pay their fees.”
The online discussion that went on for almost an hour had Principals showing keen interst in the daily online Happiness class started by the Education Dept. of the Delhi Government.
They also shared their own strategies of supporting the studies of their students using online devices.
Summing up the key initiatives taken on by the Delhi Government Shailendra Sharma. Principal Advisor to Director Education said, “Starting from 4th April, CM , Govt. of Delhi initiated a special weakly sessions on ‘Parenting in the times of Corona’. So, our focus has been not only to help the kids cope with this current situation, but also to support parents to engage with their children. We have send a daily exercise/activity through SMS/IVR to parents’ phones for students of classes Nursery to std 8. These activities guides parents to get involved with their kids and support the learning like a teacher. To build on this, and to bring the family closer in this tumultuous situation where all of us are confined to our homes, we launched Happiness classes to be conducted by our trained teachers which is streamed online, everyday at 4 pm. The idea behind all this effort is to help every home become a school, and every parent taking on the role of a teacher.”
Thanking Sisodia for creating a common platform for the private schools to connect and to share their thoughts on ‘Parenting in times of Corona’, Nikita Mann, Principal, Tagore International School, said, “We are delighted to see you taking this initiative, we stand with you united in these times. We are concerned about the EWS students and we are delighted to inform you that we are able to bring 100% of the EWS students on board for online classes. Focus for primary classes, is taking numeracy and literacy, instead of homework.”
Jyoti Arora, Principal, Mount Abu School delivered the vote of thanks on behalf of all participating schools, she said, “We are thankful to DyCM Sisodia for taking an initiative to talk to us. It is our collective endeavor to work together to support our children and their parents in this testing time.