Page 60 - EW August 2021

Cover Story

Bharat & Neelam Malik year’s online schooling, we are well-equipped to teach
through a technology-enabled hybrid model, combining
Founder-directors, AryaGlobal Group of Schools online and offline learning. We are ready to reopen our
classrooms with detailed health and safety SOPs prepared
in consultation with our PTA. All teachers and staff are
partially or fully vaccinated.
Any other comment. In the initial days of the pandemic,
public opinion was that private schools were taking
advantage of the unprecedented lockdown. But despite
such negativity, private school managements pressed on
to invest all their savings and resources to maintain the
learning continuity of students. Now 15 months later,
there is widespread appreciation of private schools and
teachers who have pulled out all stops to ensure children’s
learning is not disrupted.

S. Ajayakumar

Principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom
harat & Neelam Malik are promoter-directors of . Ajayakumar (centre left) is principal of the CBSE-
the Thane (Maharashtra)-based AryaGlobal Group affiliated Central government-promoted Kendriya
Bof primary-secondary schools with an aggregate SVidyalaya, Pattom (Kerala), ranked India’s #1 gov-
enrolment of 5,300 children. The group’s institutions ernment day school in the latest EW India School Rank-
include the Arya Gurukul School, Little Aryans Pre-K and ings 2020-21. Currently, KVP has 4,500 students tutored
St. Mary’s High, Kalyan. The latter is ranked India’s #1 by 117 teachers on its muster rolls.
budget private school in the EducationWorld India School
Rankings 2020-21.
How satisfied are you with the CBSE-affiliated Arya Gurukul
School’s switch to the online mode of learning over the past
year?
Our schools were on the path to digitisation even before
the pandemic started. The lockdown accelerated the
process. We were a certified Microsoft Aspire School
pre-pandemic and currently we are a Microsoft Showcase
School with all our teachers Microsoft certified. There-
fore, the transition to online learning was smooth not
only for academic learning but for all co-curricular activi-
ties. Our Little Aryans Pre-K preschool also received good
response from parents. They are enthusiastically sending
their children’s activities through Flipgrid app accounts
provided by us.
To what extent have you been successful in continuing the How satisfied are you with KV Pattom’s shift to the virtual mode
learning of children in the low-priced St. Mary’s High, Kalyan? of learning over the past year?
In St. Mary’s High too, we moved to online education last More than satisfied. With full government support we
year. But many of our children didn’t have digital devices made immediate arrangements for moving teaching-
and Internet connectivity. We overcame the challenge by learning to the digital mode. Unlike recorded videos
ensuring constant communication between teachers and which do not offer real time interaction, we opted for the
students/parents. Our teachers made recorded lessons integrated Google GSuite learning platform. Moreover,
available and our parents helped each other by lending use of Augmented Reality apps and several new technol-
digital devices to enable children maintain learning con- ogy tools added diversity to students’ learning experience.
tinuity. We also started a tech support helpline to resolve As a result, we are deeply connected with all our students
technical issues confronting students/parents. Moreover, and teachers. The school’s transition to online classes
we have provided all St. Mary’s children free textbooks for was smooth and no academic or co-curricular activity has
the second consecutive year, and free Microsoft software been discontinued thus far.
to students in all our schools.
How did you overcome the challenges posed by lack of digital
Should schools be reopened now? Are your schools ready for gadgets, Internet connectivity, etc?
in-person classes? What safety precautions have you insti- When teaching-learning moved to online mode, we
tuted? ensured that none of our children were unconnected. We
Our teachers and students are eager to resume in-person conducted a comprehensive survey to identify students
classes. Now that we have the experience of over one

60 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2021