Back to School Camp 2021-22

Returning to schools

After a disruption in learning caused by school closures for more than a year, schools are now being gradually opened and are exploring different approaches to bringing students back to classrooms. While parental consent is mandated for students to return to school, this begs the question of what meaningful choices parents may really have.

Lakhs of children who study in government and aided schools have been out of school and deprived of any structured learning experiences for over a year and a half. The issue is not only the learning loss - with reference to what they are supposed to have learnt in schools - as it is of the deprivation at multiple levels that these children have had to face - deficiency in nutrition, loss of a safe space and the loss of an opportunity to have some semblance of normalcy in their childhood.

Multiple studies both in India and globally emphasize the need for teaching, when schools reopen, to be informed by the learning level of each child in class and not the regular "syllabus" and the curriculum to undergo changes to focus on developing children's foundational abilities, literacy and numeracy. The approach to teaching and learning will need to respond not just to the curriculum change but also to the socio-emotional issues of students. This is essential to ensure that students don't feel alienated from the learning process and aren't forced to dropout.

Program at Govt. and Aided Schools in South 3 Block

With the Karnataka government's order allowing schools to reopen from 6th September for classes 6 to 8, in addition to classes 9 and 10 that have been running since the last week of August, schools are gearing up to bring children back in classrooms and into the learning process. ITfC has been conducting 2-day Back To School camps in government and aided schools in Bengaluru South 3 block with an aim to help children get comfortable with the school environment and with each other while they engage in fun educational activities.

An outline of the camp curriculum

The camp will combine elements of numeracy, literacy and basic life skills, with the overarching goal of getting students to become comfortable in the context of being in the school, with the various associated new routines, in terms of COVID preparedness. Addressing the questions and even anxieties children may have, especially in view of disruptions in their life out of school, will be an integral part of this camp. The theme stringing together all the activities will be one of enjoyable, relevant and meaningful learning, with activities designed for building successful learning experiences.

A tentative, day-wise agenda for the camp is described below:

Day	Sessions
Day1	Introduction to camp Ice breaker activity Communicative competencies and Creativity - Story building and narration Playing with numbers and shapes Art and Craft
Day 2	Indoor Games Math and Language Puzzles Reading corner Communicative competencies and Creativity - Story telling through enactment