Page 52 - EducationWorld June 2020

Cover Story

Samina Bano teachers is not clear as yet. Most MVM Sasikumar
Founder, RightWalk Foundation underprivileged children don’t have Director, Velammal Education Trust
access to laptops, tablets and smart-
phones, so online learning isn’t a n alum of University of
universal panacea. Therefore, a con-
Canberra (Australia), MVM
certed national strategy is required ASasikumar is director of the
to ensure continuity of education for
all children after the lockdown ends. Chennai-based Velammal Educa-
tion Trust (estb.1986) which runs
Several state governments have issued the Velammal Knowledge Park
fees waiver/deferment circulars to pri- comprising 21 educational institu-
vate school managements. What’s your tions (20 K-12 schools, one college)
comment? with an aggregate enrolment of
It’s in the public interest to ease the 40,000 students mentored by over
financial burden of parents, and it’s 2,000 teachers
important to note that there are dif- The Covid-19 crisis has majorly dis-
ferent categories of private schools.
While elite schools may be able to rupted the education system. How have
Velammal institutions, especially the
keep going for the next few months
without fees, budget private schools group’s K-12 schools, responded to this
challenge?
(BPS) don’t have enough cash flow
n alumna of the College of to sustain them through the lock- Within a week of the national emer-
Engineering, Pune and IIM- down. Simultaneously, parents must gency lockdown announcement,
ABangalore, Samina Bano gave be protected. Therefore, it is im- we reached out to our parents’
up a rewarding corporate career with perative for government to provide community through our parents’
Deloitte Consulting, USA to return relief to BPS schools to avoid mass portal to make them aware of the
to India in 2012 and promote Bharat dropout of children. If government unprecedented Covid situation, and
Abhyudaya Foundation, now known financial support is not available, the urgent need for a shift to digital
as the RightWalk Foundation (RWF). an alternative solution could be for learning. Next, we quickly devised
Since then, this Lucknow-based NGO elite schools to support BPS through teaching-learning methodologies
has succeeded in facilitating the resource sharing and optimisation. such as blended learning, creative
admission of 151,000 children from formative assessment and interac-
economically disadvantaged house- What are your Top 3 proposals for reviving tive home assignments. Simultane-
holds into 12,000 private schools in K-12 education in India? ously, our teachers were provided
Uttar Pradesh as mandated by s.12 First, we need a systemic change in intensive training programmes
(1) (c) of the RTE Act. public education, moving from teach- in technology usage for effective
er-centric to student-centric educa- virtual classrooms resulting in the
How has RightWalk Foundation respond- tion. This requires bold policy changes smooth transition to online learn-
ed to the Covid-19 disruption? such as abolition of teacher unions ing for all our children.
At RWF, we are well aware that pro- in education and devising a trust and
vision of basic needs such as food, incentives-based governance model What are the major challenges con-
shelter and clothing is the precondi- through School Management Com- fronting Indian K-12 education in the
tion of accessing education. There- mittees mandated by the RTE Act. new Covid-19 era?
fore, with the national lockdown Second, we need to create a collabora- Poor Internet connectivity and
causing huge job losses and unem- tive ecosystem in which government access to digital devices are chal-
ployment, RWF’s first priority was and private schools work together. lenges that the majority of children
to distribute meals to the poor. This Third, we need to increase student in rural India will face. For schools
was followed by providing uniforms body diversity of private schools and with technical support, teachers
and stationery to underprivileged make them more inclusive. will have to devise new ways to hold
children and upgrading our PALS students’ attention through the tiny
(post admission learning support) What are your future plans for RightWalk windows of their laptop comput-
programme — an online learning app Foundation? ers and mobile phones. Moreover,
run in collaboration with Pratham. Our primary goal is to ensure the completion of board syllabuses and
To encourage children to use the implementation of the RTE Act’s s.12 assessments will become difficult.
app and continue learning, we have (1) (c) in Uttar Pradesh. For this, we For educators, the biggest challenge
linked its usage with provision of the are enhancing our online portal to will be to ensure physical distanc-
next ration food kit. speed up financial reimbursement ing and the safety and well-being of
to private schools, enable grievance children once schools reopen.
What are the major challenges confront- redressal and child tracking, and
ing K-12 education in the new Covid-19 scale our PALS programme to cover Several state governments have issued
era? more children. This apart, we are also fees waiver/deferment circulars to
Teacher-pupil interaction has gone exploring how the foundation can pro- private school managements. What’s
online. But the extent to which this vide vocational education to support your comment?
switch will benefit students and livelihoods post-lockdown. Velammal institutions provide

52 EDUCATIONWORLD JUNE 2020