In Kolkata, education institutions were declared shut from 16th of March 2020 and may remain closed till the onset of next summer, given the present scenario.
The national government allowed for the gradual reopening of educational institutions across the country from October but the final decision was left to individual states based on local circumstances and Covid infection levels.
The West Bengal Government had said the administration would think about reopening educational institutions after Kali Puja on November 15 depending on the COVID-19 situation at that time. But then its education minister announced that schools cannot be reopened till the pandemic situation improves significantly as the safety of children is the priority of the state government.
Nothing has been finalised yet and no guidelines have been issued by the School Education Department with regard to seating arrangements, physical distancing and other measures.
The COVID virus can spread fast during the winter, so schools are yet to resume functioning. We will wait for the decision of the chief minister and the education minister on reopening of schools. None of us actually know when the situation will normalise – although year 9 and 10 students have been allowed to return to school under very controlled conditions to receive support for their exams next year.
2020 has been very challenging for Calcutta Rescue and its education projects.
Most of our students are first-generation learners and they belong to very marginalized families.
The potential impacts of the Covid crisis on our students are:
(1) Wider educational disparities and losses in learning
(2) Increased dropout rates
(3) Students missing their most important meal of the day due to surge in poverty and
(4) Greater risks in terms of their wellbeing and safety.
The government schools started running selective classes via mass media like TV and radio during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
It also claims to have started online classes but very few Government school students have been able to access them, although some private schools have run online classes.
Here at Calcutta Rescue we initially tried to continue teaching over the phone but didn’t think we could run online lessons as 40% of our students didn’t have a smartphone or internet connection to run WhatsApp. But when we realised that this technology was essential to keep students motivated and engaged with education we advocated for it strongly.
Our support groups quickly understood the problem and raised the money to buy the necessary smartphones and to fund dataplans for three hundred families. Together we have ensured that Calcutta Rescue’s teachers and students can work together effectively and that the education of hundreds of youngsters has not been derailed by the Covid crisis.
