Page 48 - EW August 2021

Cover Story

Abhishek Gupta person learning. What are the down- Government agencies — UGC,
sides of online education? What is the AICTE, MCI — should devise special
Pro chancellor, Jagran Lakecity percentage of learning loss? training programmes for faculty and
University, Bhopal Inevitably, there is loss in terms of teachers to enable them to switch to
development of interpersonal skills digital education, and also stretch
and ability to understand emotions. academic semesters to make up for
Teaching online is a different art and lost learning.
if faculty teach using offline pedago-
gies, then surely there will be big Any other comment?
learning loss. The Central and state governments
should stop prescribing common
Are you ready for in-person classes at norms for public and private uni-
JLU? What safety precautions have you versities. They have totally different
instituted? administrative systems, processes
Yes. JLU is completely ready for and procedures.
in-person classes. All our faculty
and staff are vaccinated and also 65
percent of our students. Apart from Manit Jain
that, all Covid protocols relating to Co-founder, Heritage Group of
sanitisation of premises, distancing, schools
masking etc have been drawn up in
detail and we are prepared for the
worst situation. We are aware that anit Jain is co-founder of the
every public health pandemic has a Heritage Group of four K-12
four-five year cycle and we need to Mschools in Delhi NCR with
bhishek Gupta is pro chancel- be vigilant and devise safety proto- an aggregate enrolment of 3,467 stu-
lor of the privately-promoted cols accordingly. dents. In the latest EW India School
AJagran Lakecity University, Rankings 2020-21, the group’s show-
Bhopal (JLU, estb. 2015), which has The JLU Group also runs several DPS piece Heritage Xperiential Learning
2,432 students and 230 faculty on schools in MP. How well have they been School, Gurugram is ranked India’s
it muster rolls and member, board able to manage the pandemic mandated #1 co-ed day school.
of management of four DPS schools closure of K-12 schools?
(Bhopal, Indore, Kolar Road, Rau) in To the same extent as JLU. In our Degrees of satisfaction with Heritage
Xperiential’s switch to the online mode
Madhya Pradesh. schools as well, we have invested
heavily in digital infrastructure and of learning. Heritage Xperiential was
All education institutions have been technology and teacher training, to one of the first schools countrywide
shuttered for the past 16 months to ensure learning continuity as also to transition to virtual learning when
check the spread of the pandemic and to provide counselling services to the pandemic struck. This transition
learning has moved online. To what students and parents thus ensuring was comparatively smooth for our
extent have you succeeded in switching that the latter supplement classroom teachers and students as the school
JLU to online teaching-learning? with home learning. had already invested substantially
As soon as all education institutions in strengthening its technology
were ordered to be shut down in Once on-campus classes begin, what are infrastructure, as well as teacher
mid-March, 2020, we took decisive your remedial education plans? training. Our smooth and seamless
action. We integrated GoogleMeet We are all awaiting reopening of transition to online learning is
into our LMS (learning manage- our campuses. First, students will reflected not only in high attendance
ment system). Thanks to our robust need to get back into the habit of and participation in online classes,
technology partner, all our classes sitting long hours in classrooms. but also satisfactory learning
went online within seven days. Therefore, classroom learning will be outcomes of students and heart-
Simultaneously, we also integrated made more interesting than before warming feedback from parents.
proctored examinations into our and children will need counselling. Experience of other schools in
LMS. By responding quickly and Moreover, focus on redeveloping soft
decisively to the pandemic chal- skills and practical lab work will be the Heritage Group, viz, Heritage
International, Heritage Rohini and
lenge, we were able to complete the important priorities.
2020-21 academic syllabus, conduct What is your advice to government to Heritage Vasant Kunj. The substantial
our exams online and declare results make up for academically lost ground in investment we made in all our
on schedule. Indeed, we were the the pandemic era? schools much before the pandemic,
first university in Madhya Pradesh to Universities should be allowed to ensured their readiness in terms
conduct and complete examinations reopen because students in this cat- of technology infrastructure and
in June. We also collaborated with egory are above 18 years and eligible digital pedagogies usage. All our
Microsoft (India) to take all our labs for vaccination. Moreover, govern- schools have developed customised
virtual to ensure that practicals were ment should mandate that only LMS (learning management
not hampered for students. vaccinated students will be allowed systems), used regularly so teachers
and students are familiar with it.
Online learning can never replace in- on college and university campuses.

48 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2021