Unity in Adversity: Parents as partners in learning
The COVID crisis has been bigger than what our country could have imagined, longer than we could have imagined, impacting lives in ways that we weren’t prepared for. Over the last six months, schools across the country have been shut, which has had an enormous impact on the student, teachers, schools, and also on the parents. A recent survey conducted across five states by Oxfam India revealed the harsh reality of majority of the 47 crore school-going children in the country: more than 35% children have not received mid-day meals despite government orders, 80% parents reported that education was not delivered during the lockdown and 84% teachers continue to struggle with delivery through digital mediums. While a crisis reveals the fractures in the system, the hidden gaps between have and have-nots, it also helps us reflect and prepare.
The Department of Education, Punjab in collaboration with the Punjab Education Collective, foreseeing these challenges in front of them, has been working hard towards ensuring every child has continued access to learning, through their Mission ‘Ghar Baithe Sikhiya’. Teachers and schools across the state have been reaching out to students using online and offline methods, as well as taking the support of parents and the community to ensure minimal disruption in the learning of the children. Understanding the integral role that parents play in the overall development of the child and school, especially at this time, teachers across the state have been actively working with the parents and community to create such an environment for the students.
This gave birth to an initiative at the state, to organize a week-long celebration of the efforts of teachers, parents, and the community through Maape Adhyapak Milni Hafta: A second state-wide engagement with parents and community.
Maape Adhyapak Milni Hafta, a week-long engagement between schools, parents and the community, was organized by the Department of School Education with the support of the Punjab Education Collective from 14th-19th September 2020. Over the week, all schools in Punjab conducted Parent-Teacher Meetings and SMC meetings with the objective to:
Teachers reached out to parents through phone calls, video calls, in-person meetings and house visits adhering to social distancing protocols.
The planning phase had the collective working closely with the Department for this week-long campaign towards:
PTM was conducted in all 19,000 government schools, with teachers reaching out to 20 lakh+ parents. SMC (School Management Committee) meetings have also been conducted in 14,000+ schools. Stories, photos and videos of heartwarming conversations between parents and teachers and SMC meetings poured in whatsapp groups.
Parent-Teacher Meetings gave a platform to the parents and students to discuss and ask teachers questions, express their challenges and give suggestions on the current way of schooling. Suggestions of more than 20 lakh parents across 19000 schools of Punjab, were captured on Darpan by the Padho Punjab Team, which is a huge step forward from the traditional parent-teacher meetings with only teachers providing updates and instructions. PTM and SMC meetings were also an opportunity for the teachers to inform parents about the education plans for the students.
This also gave the schools the perfect platform to appreciate the endless support they have received from the community, which has helped the schools tremendously. Stories of the community taking the lead and coming together with teachers to work for their children starting from raising funds to provide students with necessary tools (stationary, data packs and even smartphones in a few areas), to organising group sessions for students who do not have access to TVs to watch their daily lessons on channels like DD Punjabi and Swayam Prabha. A primary goal that we were working towards was to restart SMC meetings in the state, giving way to appreciate the SMC members who are already playing a part in helping students and teachers or start conversations around how can SMC members support schools and community. ‘We have been regularly speaking to the teachers and parents to know what are the resources the students need. The School Management Committee (SMC) in our school has provided students with stationery, data packs and smartphones for a few students to help them participate in online classes organised by the schools’ shared Mr Jasbir Singh, the SMC member of Govt Primary School Kotri Sakhiya, Amritsar. Maape Adhyapak Milni Hafta was the culmination of these efforts, a celebration of what a positive and balanced bond between the school and community is.
The pandemic has created a need to remind ourselves and the system of the integral role played by parents and the community in the overall development of the child. Along with working with students on their learning, it is equally essential to continue empowering parents to voice their challenges and concerns, and play an active part in the planning of education initiatives by the department. While many teachers have been regularly keeping in touch with parents and community through various means, it was still essential to create a formal platform for this interaction. Through the PTM and SMC meetings conducted, the department has tried to reinstate confidence in the parents and schools alike that working together is the way forward to make an impact on the children positively.
