After 700 days, our children are back to school– and that’s a sigh of relief from the parents’ community- I can vouch for that!
But jokes apart, it was about time we got our children into a routine they are familiar with- a routine that is meant to be- to help them explore the outside world. No- am not cribbing. Am not complaining about all the good things my child missed because she missed school. No- far from that. In fact, gratitude is one of the values I have worked hard on instilling in the kids (and myself!) over the pandemic.
But was online schooling this convenient for everyone? Across India? The statistics don’t say so.
A recent report by the Boston Consulting Group shares some facts that show why offline schooling is not only a preferred option but also a necessity in our country:
- Over 40-70% of Indian children did not have access to a device at home that enabled online classes.
- As per World Bank, every year of schooling lost translates to potentially ~9% lower future earnings for a student.
- About 37% parents responded their child didn’t study at all at home. An issue that stressed out most parents.
- And not just from an academic perspective. Even from the behavioural aspect- 49% parents responded their child is facing an improper schedule (e.g., for studying, sleeping, eating etc.)
- > 70% of the Rural population couldn’t get access to Internet resulting in loss or drop out of formal education.
And that’s not all. The one common complaint of the parenting fraternity was that- even when things and situation improved, while other financial institutions were opened, schools remained shut for 2 years. While schools were globally shut in 2020 (first half), many countries kept schools largely open through 2021- eg Australia, Japan, China, Portugal, USA and UK among others.
In fact, in France, UK and Canada, schools were the last to close and first to open, in contrast to the situation we had over here.
One statistic from the BCG Report worried me most, as a parent.
A student who lost 1 year of learning will only be able to recuperate in 9-14 years. Isn’t that too long?
There’s a lot more for parents than just sending their kids away to school so they get some time off, and we should be able to tell the world that. We got requests of parents asking us – how to make kids study at home, because they aren’t interested, no interest in reading, finding difficulty to read, how to keep a schedule – and so on. These are even bigger losses than just education.
When it came to analysing social and emotional issues, it was observed by UNICEF that 1/3rd of primary and half of secondary students have faced poor mental and socio-emotional health since May 2020.
All of these present statistics that are beyond comprehension for a parent like you and me- who only wish for things to get back to the good ol’ days. No more “new normal”! So now that things are slowly opening up, how do today’s parents get ready for back to school?
At Kidsstoppress, over the past 1.5 years we have had the chance to interact with some of the best experts from the health and education fields and we have put together our conversations with them here for you to go through. From SOPs that schools should practise, to habits we must teach our kids, to ways to naturally build immunity in kids, the experts have covered it all.
Go ahead go through the links below and don’t forget to share it with a fellow parent. And to all your little ones who are in the get-set-ready mode for school- here’s wishing you all the very best!
Teach Your Child How To Do This Before They Go Back To School
Things We Need To Be Worried About Before Schools Reopen
Forgotten How To Prep For School Snacks As Kids Head Back To School?
Janani S Koushik
Mansi Zaveri
Mansi Zaveri
Natasha Kothari
Mansi Zaveri
Parul Gupta
