Q. Has there been a change in student enrollment as well as attendance?

Teacher: Talking about my school, we did a survey in the village this year and got all the children enrolled in the school. The enrollments have also been high because many families have migrated to our village from a nearby nature sanctuary.

The attendance is also fine because mid-day meals are being distributed. The school has opened after about two years, so the children are also coming.

Q. Since children have physically come to school after a long time, is there a difference in their learning levels? Are remedial steps being taken?

Teacher: The learning levels of children have dropped steeply. There are many reasons for the same; the children have been away from schools for a long time, teachers were also not able to meet them directly, only online classes were available, some children did not even have the resources to take online classes, and parents who are less or not educated at all were also not able to provide children the needed support.

We are not conducting any special activities for remedial measures, but children are being taught according to their level. Efforts are being made to improve their learning level through bridge courses. Another thing is that the new NCERT books have a lot of worksheets, and we are seeing improvement in children who are practising using these worksheets.

Q. How have your duties and responsibilities changed after the reopening of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Teacher: There has not been much change, but in the past, when we were holding classes at 50 per cent capacity, we had to inform parents about when their child had to come to school. Now, all the teachers go from door-to-door to meet the parents and encourage them to send their children to school with confidence. As per instructions, we have also been given the responsibility to spread awareness about the COVID-19 vaccine in the village.

Q. Have you received any kind of teacher training to address these challenges?

Teacher: Yes, we have received training at the state, district, block and cluster levels through online medium. In these training sessions, we were told how to improve the mental and educational levels of children. We also received materials for the same through online applications.

Q. Has your school received annual grants in the last two years? Along with this, have you received separate funds to reopen the school or for the COVID-19 friendly classroom assessment?

Teacher: We have received the same grants which we did last year for maintenance of the school. No separate funds have been granted, but every child was given a mask in the school, and even that is not being given now. We do not have any information about grants like the 15th Finance Commission. The Panchayat has undertaken work on the outer wall of our school and the survey work for the same has also been done.