Campus Talk: Mumbai schools reeling under lockdown aftereffects

Mobile phones have become a nuisance in schools

Smartphones which have played the role of classrooms during lockdowns are now affecting the discipline of students after the schools have resumed offline classes. Teachers are struggling to ensure that mobile phones are kept away during school hours. Shincy Peters, senior coordinator and teacher with Orchids – The International School, pointed out how mobile phones are no longer banned as dependency on the device has increased. “Before the pandemic outbreak there were strict rules, but now even parents insist on allowing children to carry mobile phones,” Peters said.

According to the teachers in the city, mobile phones have become a nuisance in classrooms. The phones may be in silent mode, but children are seen using them inside the classroom, clicking pictures, chatting with friends, scrolling social media, etc. “I have to give a stern talk to 4-5 students daily on the issues of excessive use of technology. Mostly students are seen clicking pictures during off periods,” said Ambarsinh Magar, principal of the Barve Nagar Municipal School run by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

As teachers are struggling to ensure overall discipline, Peters said, “Students have also started questioning the requirement of school uniform after coming from a comfort zone of their houses where they wore track-pants and T-shirts during online class. Schools not only insist on a uniform attire but also rules for tying hair, shoes etc.”

While maintaining discipline and decorum in classrooms has become a point of concern for many teachers, prolonged online schooling has affected the writing practice and attention span of children.

Jaywant Kulkarni, senior teacher with the Gandhi Balmandir School, said, “Home learning gives the students the luxury to take a break from classes when they get bored. They can stop the audio and video and take a stroll around the house. In a conventional classroom setting that is not possible. This leads to reduced attention in what is going on in class.”

Adding to this, Sachu Ramalingam, head of the Centre of Well Being, Lighthouse Learning which runs EuroSchools, Billabong International Schools and Kangaroo Kids International Pre-Schools, said, “As students have resumed physical schooling, teachers have observed behavioural issues in students. While anxiety is observed in many children, some have also developed the habit of eating in between classes, which was common during online classes from home.”

Steps taken by schools

The Centre of Well-Being of Lighthouse Learning recently conducted various training programmes for teachers where the focus was on creating awareness about the behavioural issues faced by children.

“They have been alerted about the possibilities of loss of attention span among students, less intention of sitting in one place and low focus on tasks. We have trained our teachers across all sections to understand how to tackle such issues carefully and give children the time to cope with the transition from online to offline schooling,” said Ramalingam, and added that the centre has increased the number of councillors to help out the students and teachers.

Several training programmes were held for teachers, which included understanding how to allow time for students in activities such as writing, which they have lost practice. Apart from being patient with students, the training programmes, which according to Kulkrani, have helped teachers to ensure more interactive classes so that students are kept engaged and do not lose interest.

While most schools had anticipated issues related to gaps in learning outcomes and academic loss, problems such as loss of attention, discipline and decorum along with excessive use of mobile phones have been witnessed only after the resumption of offline classes.

“We are holding parents’ meetings to create awareness on how to work in collaboration to educate children on responsible use of mobile phones. We are also interacting with students on how the digital device can be of great help in developing their personality, if used correctly,” said Magar.

Even as schools are taking steps to tackle the new issues faced in resumption of conventional classroom setting; according to Peters, instilling the discipline required in the schools will take some more time. “Younger kids will still have more years of school to develop the discipline. But we are more worried about the older ones who are going to appear for board examinations. They have lost their years of learning discipline,” she said.