Page 54 - EW August 2021

Cover Story

Dr. Shayama Chona The decision to re-open our centres
will depend on government. Student
President, Tamana Autism Centre safety is of course our top priority.
— School of Hope, Delhi We are routinely sensitising our par-
ents and children about the benefits
r. Shayama Chona is the cele- of early vaccination and Covid safety
brated former principal of DPS, protocols.
DR.K. Puram, Delhi, where she Once on-campus classes begin, what are
served for 35 years (1978-2009) and your remedial education plans?
founder-chairperson of the Tamana In Tamana schools, there’s an Indi-
Foundation (estb.1992) which manag- vidualised Education Plan for every
es three Tamana special needs schools child supplemented with periodic
in Delhi with an enrolment of 500 stu- progress reports. Remedial educa-
dents mentored by 43 teachers. tion in groups or one-to-one will also
The past 15 months schools have been be individualised based on children’s
shuttered to check the spread of the needs once on-campus classes begin.
pandemic. How successful has been the What is your advice to government to
Tamana Schools’ adaptability to online make up for the education loss suffered
learning? by special needs children?
It has been a very challenging period. depression. Special needs children Tamana teachers have successfully
In March 2020, we had a student particularly need social interaction, streamlined and adapted education
strength of 500-plus. Since April collaborative learning and play to and rehabilitation programmes for
2020, when our special education remain motivated. special needs children to the online
and rehabilitation programmes Should schools be reopened now? Are mode. Our model can be scaled up
moved online, only 211 children your schools ready for physical classes? and implemented countrywide.
could access them. Poor Internet
connectivity and lack of access to
digital devices apart, it is difficult
for special needs students to adapt
to online learning as they don’t have Rohan Bhat al counselling to our students.
long attention spans. They become Chairman, Children’s Academy, Moreover, we have a success-
restless and the majority need special ful programme of home delivering
support from caregivers to partici- Mumbai printed notes, worksheets and sci-
pate in online learning. ence kits to all our 8,000 students to
Moreover, because most Tamana ohan Bhat is chairman of the ensure there is some offline learning.
children are from economically Children’s Academy Group Our internal surveys show high level
weaker sections of society, we are Rof Schools (CAGS) with three of satisfaction with our online-offline
heavily reliant on fundraising events branches in Mumbai and an aggregate initiatives.
and donors to sustain our schools. enrolment of over 8,000 students.
The pandemic posed these additional Children’s Academy, Malad and Kan- What are the major factors behind the
challenges. divali are ranked among Mumbai’s smooth adaptation to online learning of
all four Children’s Academy Schools in
So how did you manage with the chal- Top 10 co-ed day schools in the EW Mumbai?
lenges of online learning? India School Rankings 2020-21. From the outset, we took care to
Since April 2020, our special educa- How satisfied are you with Children’s ensure that lack of personal digital
tors and therapists have been teach- Academy Schools’ switch to virtual devices didn’t hinder our students
ing online daily with teacher-student learning over the past
ratios of 1:3 and 1:1 respectively. year?
Evening and remedial classes were We are fortunate
also introduced. On the recommen- to have incremen-
dation of researchers and psycholo- tally introduced
gists, we have integrated story-telling IT-enabled learn-
and audio visual aids into our online ing around five
classes to sustain students’ interest. years ago. Today,
In addition our therapists provide 15 months into the
children regular emotional support pandemic we have
and counseling. a comprehensive
Nevertheless online classes can never online programme
replace in-person campus education… which also pro-
Visiting our centres daily was an vides co-curricular,
important part of students’ lives sports education
without which they become prone to and socio-emotion-

54 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2021