Page 49 - EW August 2021

Moreover, our teachers undergo 300 hours of Ekta Sodha
professional digitally-enabled training every year
from global and Indian education experts. CEO, Cadmus Sodha Group
Readiness of Heritage schools for reopening and of Schools, Jamnagar
safety precautions. We have been prepared to
welcome teachers and students on our campuses n education postgradu-
for a while now with well-defined SOPs ate of Newcastle Uni-
(standard operating procedures) and changes Aversity, UK, Ekta Sodha
in infrastructure. All protocols are in place with is the Jamnagar (Gujarat)-
strict adherence to Covid-19 guidelines issued by based CEO of the Cadmus
the government and medical fraternity. Sodha Group of Schools, a
chain of five affordable K-X
Remedial education plans post-pandemic. Our schools in Gujarat with an
schools will initially focus on restoring the aggregate enrolment of 5,500
socio-emotional well-being of every child and students and 550 faculty.
help students reconnect with peers and teachers
before enforcing academic agendas. We have How satisfied are you with the Cadmus schools’ switch to the online
devised systems to assess learning gaps and mode of learning over the past year?
bridge them expeditiously across all subjects. We The education sector is the third worst-hit after the hospitality
are also studying strategies that have worked well and entertainment industries. The entire education ecosystem
in countries that reopened schools some time is battling grave challenges such as lack of digital devices, poor
back, and will incorporate best practices that Internet connectivity, digitally illiterate teachers, the list is long.
might be effective in our situation. We have invested hundreds of man hours in training our teach-
ers in online technologies. An additional challenge for affordable
schools such as ours was to train parents and students to adapt
to our remote learning model.
What are the major measures you took to ensure learning continuity of
children against the backdrop of lack of digital devices/poor Internet
connectivity/fees waivers order by government, etc?
Cadmus schools are low-price affordable institutions. Anticipat-
ing problems such as lack of technological infrastructure, Inter-
net outages, and parents’ inability to pay full fees, we designed a
remote learning model which is cost-effective and easily man-
aged. Our model combines instruction on Zoom and WhatsApp
with students able to attend live classes on Zoom as well as
listen to recorded lectures and access notes and assignments on
WhatsApp.
On the issue of tuition fees regulation during the pandemic,
the 25 percent fees waiver order of the Gujarat government has
made the survival of private budget schools very difficult. The
essence of budget private schools is minuscule profit margins.
Advice to digitally under-served education institutions. According to one estimate, more than 2,000 private schools in
Technology cannot be separated from the edu- Gujarat are on the verge of shutting down and/or desperate to
cational ecosystem and will drive the education sell out.
sector, as most sectors of the economy. Education Should schools be reopened now? Are your schools ready for in-person
institutions have to find ways and means to build classes?
digital learning infrastructure and train teachers After the first wave of the pandemic, schools did reopen for about
to switch to digitally-enabled learning. Students’
aspirations should not be disregarded by institu- two months with no major Covid outbreaks reported. Medical
evidence suggests that children are least vulnerable to the Covid
tional managements unable or unwilling to invest
in new technologies-enabled education. It is now virus. Therefore, it’s high time to reopen schools to prevent ir-
reparable educational, economical and psychological damage to
the new normal.
children. All Cadmus schools have instituted strict health and
safety measures to check the spread of Covid-19.
Advice to government to make up for academically lost
ground. We need a concerted effort towards re- What are your plans for managing future pandemic disruptions?
opening schools asap. I urge the Central and state Whether we like it or not, new pandemics are inevitable. The
governments to devise detailed safety guidelines silver lining is that the initial reluctance of teachers, students
and take the initiative to reopen schools which and parents to accept remote learning pedagogies has vanished.
have experienced prolonged lockdown. Vaccina- Post-pandemic, we believe that a blended/hybrid learning model
tion of teachers as frontline workers and intro- is here to stay. This will connect the learning experience of Gen Z
duction of vaccines for children aged 12-18 are with the real world and most important, make them less suscep-
immediate priorities. tible to future disruptions.

AUGUST 2021 EDUCATIONWORLD 49