Page 50 - EW August 2021

Cover Story

Ryan Pinto Rashmi Misra
CEO, Ryan Group of Institutions Founder, VIDYA
yan Pinto is CEO of the Ryan ashmi Misra is founder-
International Group of Insti- chairperson of Vidya Inte-
Rtutions (RIGI) comprising 140 Rgrated Development for Youth
K-12 schools with 270,000 students and Adults (VIDYA, estb.1985), an
countrywide. NGO providing education, skills
Degree of satisfaction with Ryan training, and healthcare to 15,000
schools’ switch to online learning. Back underprivileged children and adults
in December 2019, a review of the in New Delhi, Haryana, Mumbai/
international pandemic situation Pune and Bengaluru. It also runs
prompted us to prepare an academic the CBSE-affiliated VIDYA School,
continuity plan for all RIGI schools Gurugram (estb.2009) that provides
countrywide and abroad. This plan free-of-charge English-medium K-12
was implemented quickly because we education to 950 children from low-
had introduced technology inte- income households.
grated pedagogy several years ago. Most Vidya School children don’t have
Therefore fortunately, our teachers access to digital gadgets and Internet
were familiar with edtech and quick Union health ministry guidelines. connectivity. How have you ensured
to adapt to technology-enabled on- Every RIGI school also has a Covid learning continuity during the past year
line learning. Emergency Response Team (CERT) of schools closure?
Moreover in May last year, we equipped and trained to deal with The Covid-19 crisis has proved that
launched our integrated offline- emergencies. the teachers’ community can adapt
online, synchronous-asynchronous quickly to change. With limited
K-12 learning initiative christened Remedial education plans. As we have resources, Vidya teachers overcame
Ryan School OS — a one stop solu- been continually assessing students formidable odds to maintain learn-
tion for curriculum delivery, timeta- in online classes, we have a fair idea ing continuity during these difficult
bling, student assessment, teacher- of learning loss and what needs to times. One of our first initiatives last
pupil and peer-to-peer interaction. be done. Once in-person classes year was to launch a digital gadgets
Ryan School OS has been imple- resume, we will undertake further donation, collection and distribution
mented in all RIGI CBSE, IGCSE, diagnostic testing for all students drive to enable our students to access
ICSE/ISC, and state board-affiliated and implement remedial education online classes. We were also helped
schools. A recent internal survey to bridge learning gaps. by budli.in — a Bengaluru-based e-
indicates that 92 percent of parents Advice to digitally under-served educa- commerce company, which donated
and students are ‘extremely satisfied’ refurbished digital devices to us. A
with the Ryan School OS. tion institutions. Regrettably, the parallel initiative was to up-skill our
pandemic has widened the digital
Downsides of online education. Inevita- divide in education. While there is teachers to conduct online classes.
bly online learning has its downsides. no silver bullet solution for bridg- For students who couldn’t attend
For instance, it’s difficult to per- ing this divide, it’s critical that the online classes, worksheets were
sonalise online lessons to suit every issue of digital divide and learning sent to their homes. Moreover since
child’s learning style and capabilities. loss is addressed as it can have seri- children’s families moved to their
Moreover, all children are not able to ous consequences for the country’s native villages during the pandemic,
listen attentively to virtual lectures. future. We need to innovate ways to to them we provided pre-recorded
Also peer and collaborative learning teach-learn in asynchronous modes videos and assignments sent through
suffers in online education. That’s through sharing of teaching materi- WhatsApp.
why our Ryan School OS combines als and resources and audio feeds. Apart from Vidya School, Gurugram, how
synchronous and asynchronous Advice to government to make up for have you ensured continuation of Vidya’s
learning. other outreach programmes?
academically lost ground in the pan-
Reopening schools and RIGI schools’ demic era. To reverse learning loss, All told, VIDYA manages 79 projects
readiness for in-person classes. The the Central and state governments in four states — Delhi, Haryana,
decision to reopen schools is of the should be sensitive to the social and Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru. To
government. Even as we speak, a emotional needs of children. When maintain the momentum of these
number of states are permitting accelerated learning programmes are projects which directly educate and
schools to resume in-person classes introduced to bridge learning gaps, skill 15,000 individuals, we have
and we are very encouraged by the socio-emotional support also needs equipped all of them with basic
response of our parents. to be given priority. Smartphones/tablets, vaccinated
All RIGI schools are fully ready With our extensive network of 420 teachers and 1,000 staff mem-
with health and safety SOPs (stan- RIGI schools across the country, bers and enabled the vaccination
dard operating protocols) con- we are willing — indeed eager — to of 4,000 parents. This required a
forming with WHO standards and supplement government efforts. sustained fund-raising drive in which

50 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2021