Changes

=== We can and we should learn - A unique context for school education ===

=== We can, and we should learn - A unique context for school education ===

After months of being closed, schools are now being opened and different schools are exploring different approaches to bringing students back to classrooms. While the parental consent is mandated for students to return to school, this begs the question of meaningful choices do the parents really have.

After months of being closed, schools are now being gradually opened and schools 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.

A lot of discussion has been going on around the sanitising of the premises, whether children should come full days or all days and the use of masks and the logistics of student arrangements.  Another issue that has engaged the minds of many among the education system is the question of syllabus. However, the  question to be asked now, that is more relevant than ever, is how can we rebuild the relationship that the children have with learning, and with school? While this question is relevant for all children - for all ages and across different strata of society - it assumes an urgency in the case of children who have had no access to any form of learning experience.

A lot of discussion has been on the sanitising of the premises, whether children should come full days, or all days and the use of masks, logistics of student arrangements, as well as the scope of the syllabus. However, the  question that  needs be asked now, that is more relevant than ever, is how can we rebuild the relationship that the children have with learning, and with school? While this question is relevant for all children - for all ages and across different strata of society - it assumes an urgency in the case of children who have had no access to any form of structured learning experience.

Many children who go to government and government aided schools have been out of school and deprived of any learning experience for over 10 months now.  The issue is not so much of 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.  While the more fortunate among the children have made the seamless movement into a new normal, the children from the more marginalized and vulnerable groups of society have received the short end of the stick. The Vidyagama that started and stopped due to public health concerns is now being revived and it is important to design a program for enabling these students to succeed.

Many children who go to government and government aided schools have been out of school and deprived of any structured learning experiences for over 10 months now.  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.  While the more fortunate among the children have made the seamless movement into a new normal, the children from the more marginalized and vulnerable groups of society have mostly received the short end of the stick. The ''Vidyagama'' that started and stopped due to public health concerns has now been revived, and it is important to design a program for enabling these students to succeed.

=== Program at GHS 9th block ===

=== Program at GHS 9th block ===

The GHS at 9th block Jayanagar is bringing class 8 students to school starting from the week of Jan 18, 2021.  The school has decided to conduct an immersive learning camp for these students, to ease their return to school as well as to show them the potential and possibilities for learning.  IT for Change, along with the school, is conducting an immersive camp for 4 days from January 19-22, 2021.   

The GHS at 9th block Jaya Nagar is bringing class 8 students to school starting from the week of Jan 18, 2021, following the latest guidelines.  The school has decided to conduct an immersive learning camp for these students, to ease their return to school as well as to show them the potential and possibilities for learning.  IT for Change, along with the school, is conducting an immersive camp for 4 days during January 2021. This camp is modelled on the principles of Vidyagama, allowing learning in multiple ways in open spaces, and  not focusing immediately on the traditional classroom learning of the regular syllabus.   

==== Objectives of the program ====

==== Objectives of the program ====

# To help students get reoriented back to being in a learning environment

# To help students get reoriented to a structured learning environment

# To help students appreciate the relevance of the school, to their everyday lives

# To help students appreciate the relevance of the school, to their everyday lives

# To create a safe space for students for them to explore and learn

# To create a safe space for students for them to explore and learn