With educational institutions switching to online mode for conducting classes during the lockdown period to make up for the time loss and also to continue with the learning process, shortage of books and proper stationery material seems to be a major hurdle to this.
As students are missing holding a textbook physically while reading a chapter, parents too are worried that reading the same from a PDF file on the laptop or mobile screen might hamper the child’s eye sight.
“My son is in class IV and he is finding it extremely difficult to follow the instruction on the school app without books. He is a bright child but right now he is unable to concentrate and also has a short attention span.
Though online classes are the only option at the moment, children are spending more time than usual in front of the screen and this might not be good for them. For this I ensure he gets some physical exercise and am also very particular that he does not watch too much TV or plays on the mobile afterwards,” said Brinda whose son goes to St. Xavier’s School.
“I somehow managed to arrange for books before the lockdown but at that time too they were not available for all the subjects. Though the school is providing very good material but reading from a print out is not the same as reading from a book. My elder son who is in class V is missing his friends and the virtual interaction with teachers that is only possible in a classroom. At this point of time also the teachers are extremely approachable to solve any doubts and queries,” said Prachi Narsaria who sends her son to Delhi Public School.
“The school has an app on which homework is being posted. The teachers for any of the subjects are absolutely not approachable. With lack of books my son is not enjoying it at all. For learning a poem, it was difficult for him to keep zooming in and zooming out, so the only alternative was to write it on a paper and give him. The school should at least allot class teachers who can form a Whatsapp group to solve any doubts,” said Richa whose son studies in class VI in a reputed school.