TIIE-EL-Community

Parents meeting at Ejipura

There are 37 students in class 7 at GHPS Ejipura, and only 9 parents attended the parents meeting. We created a video by involving students participation in many activities, parents were so happy to see the pictures and videos of their child's participation in school activities. Class teacher starts the interaction with explaining the covid/pandemic situation and how it affects students' learning by mentioning teachers' efforts to bring them up. Teachers asked parents to watch over their children at home, question them about their studies, and advise them not to send their children to tuitions. Following that, we started a discussion about their beliefs and practises regarding their child's learning.

Strategies for an inclusive set-up for parent's meeting:

   • Circle-shaped seating

   • Text-audio-visual materials to be used during conversations

   • A place for them to express their opinions

   • Sharing evidence of the children's participation with parents while making an effort to involve all children

   • Audio messages in addition to text messages

     

Parents' comments:

• Parents were more keen to learn more about their children's progress than simply signing a book and paper and attending a parent's meeting.
• Some children have single parents who struggle to keep track of their students in addition to other responsibilities. Teachers should pay more attention to those kids and provide the best guidance possible for them.    
• A few parents spoke about the difficulties they experienced as a result of their socio-economic status as a single parent. Example 1; Kavya(name changed) has a single parent because her father died when she was 3 years old and no other siblings. Mother works as a maid in 2–4 homes. She is influenced by her aunt in extracurricular activities and used her service to help with household chores like carrying water from outside and washing dishes, but she is unwilling to assist her mother and has no interest in reading or writing. The mother finds it difficult to provide her daughter with the necessities, such as clothing, school supplies, and occasionally food. Example 2; Abhi(name changed) is a single parent who lost his father in 2022. He has three siblings, a 19-year-old boy who has stopped attending school and is instead just hanging out with friends, a 14-year-old sister who quit school when she was in high school, and a 6-year-old little sister who attends Anganavadi. He is also not interested in going to school, and for the past few months, someone has had to convince him into attending classes. Even though he went to school, he frequently leaves because he gets bored. His mother asked him to attend school and learn something because she was upset with his behaviour. She is unwilling to go to work to earn money if he does not engage in school.     
• One parent mentioned how their child enjoys going to school and how the school environment affects her social skills. As an illustration, the child's father noted that while she is very quiet at home, she will get along with everyone in school. They meant that she wouldn't argue with her friends or complain at home.    
• Two parents compare the kids' educational levels with those of their siblings. Example; "Her sister was fully engaged in reading and learning activities at home, but she was a little lazy and using her phone during that time," one of the child's fathers mentioned.
• One mother stated that her child enjoys playing games and other non-academic activities but is not interested in reading or writing.
• One of the parents works as the kitchen helper at the same school where she is also the president of the SDMC forum. She talked the SDMC forum, mentioning that there was no SDMC meeting after Covid and that members weren't present for the scheduled meeting. The forum does not have coordination.
• Parents agreed to take time off from work and attend the meeting after knowing that the parents' meeting was more important than their job following our interaction.

Challenges:    

   1. The majority of parents find the meeting times inconvenient.

   2. Meeting schedule, short notice of meeting, and meeting purpose not properly communicated to many parents

   3. Parents are unable to attend the meeting for personal or professional reasons, and they are also unable to make time for their children's learning activities.

   4. A lack of awareness of the meeting's importance.

   5. A lack of trust between teachers and parents regarding meeting.

   6. Some time Teachers' attitudes and behaviour prevent parents from visiting the school.

Parents meeting planned in such a way that

   • Stop calling the child's parents to sign the meeting's attendance sheet and answer sheet.

   • Create interest for the parents to attend the meeting held at school

   • Make sure to schedule regular meetings to discuss their child's progress in the classroom activities at least once a month.

   • Discussion of how parents should participate in their children's educational activities

   • Use audio inputs rather than text messages.

   • All subject teachers, including HM, are indeed welcome to attend the meeting.

   • Plan for parents to be aware of their children' challenges.

   • Let parents know what is being taught in class and about school programmes

Think about it :

   • How can we encourage more meaningful interaction between parents and teachers?

Interaction with the parents of Children with learning difficulties from Byrasandra school.

During in our interactions with children in the classroom at Byrasandra school, the team noticed a few students who may be experiencing some learning difficulties. This was brought up with the school's teachers and the relevant department members. Based on their suggestions, we met the parents of the three children, and we found that all three parents were Illiterate. One works as security, one as a housekeeper at the school and other is a housekeeper at both hotel and school. We explained the difficulties faced by children in classroom, they accepted and noticed it too. Those children were taken to NIMHANS hospital for diagnosis  and were diagnosed at child and Adolescent psychiatry department by a clinical psychiatrist. Some of the important aspects that we encountered during and later the process of diagnosis were designated as:

Challenges/ Difficulties faced by parents to pay attention to their children

• The attitude of the parents, lack of educational background, reluctance to take any initiative to support their children's education.
• Faith in the teachers about their children future
• Economic status of the family
• Migration from one place to another
• Lack of awareness on learning disabilities
• Even though they were aware of the difficulties faced by children, they didn’t make an effort to seek help or visit the hospital.
• All of them work for a daily wage, which makes it difficult for them to take a day off. After work, they don't have time to spend with their children
• Lack of opportunity to speak with the appropriate person to learn about services provided by the government to get the necessary facilities and exercise their rights.

Difficulties experienced by parents at NIMHANS

• There is no clear instruction or message for the parents to complete the checklist in their procedure, and at every stage there is a long line that takes at least an hour to move through.
• The majority of physical therapists speak English during counselling, which becomes difficult for parents who are illiterate to follow.
• Clinical therapist question parents about their children's milestones, birth information, and other related information at the time of counselling, but parents will forget many details in order to respond to those questions.
• Parents must dedicate an entire day to see a psychiatrist for child follow-up.
• At some point during the follow-up, a new Psychiatrist will handle the child's case. They review the file and perform the repeated counselling.
• If the child has a serious issue, they end the counselling and follow up with some medication or UDID card; otherwise, they advise taking the child to another hospital wherein the child has to undergo fresh screening and diagnosis.

Improvements observed among parent's perspective on their child.

Parents' perspectives on their children changed slightly as a result of our interactions with them and visiting the hospital with us. Here is a list of the observations.

• Increase understanding of the disabilities that children deal with.
• Started thinking about their children's futures in view of their challenges and were prepared to help them in accordance with their needs.
• Initially opposed bringing the child to the hospital, but now willing to take the child to the suggested hospital for further evaluation.
• Gained confidence to visit hospitals on their own and started informing us about their visits.
• An understanding of the government policies and facilities offered for differently abled children.
• By taking into account the child's learning factors, one parent made the decision to enrol the child (who had an intellectual disability) in residential school. Parents understood child's learning in various subjects is not significantly impacted in normal school.