95% of schools want to postpone exams this year according to a survey conducted by Dream a Dream, a non-governmental organization working closely with schools in Karnataka. In fact schools fear that the students may not be able to clear board exams as most schools were still in the process of completing the syllabus or working on model preparations for the board exams. The School Readiness survey with the Principals and heads of institutions of 853 educational institutions across 28 districts of Karnataka was undertaken to understand the impact of COVID 19 on the educational system of low-cost private schools, government aided schools and government schools. The survey explores the major concerns after the reopening of schools post lockdown and the support required by the schools. The study included schools from both rural and urban backgrounds and was focussed on capturing accurate information across majority of the districts in Karnataka. Furthermore 92% of the headmasters requested a reduced syllabus for the new academic year owing to the loss of instructional time because of the lockdown. This request comes close to the heels of knowing that 97% of the schools surveyed had very little digital infrastructure to support the delivery of online classes. The survey also brought forth the sad state of affairs among teachers who have not been paid for the last two months. 96% of the schools require support to address the wellbeing and mental health concerns of students.
Speaking about the survey Suchetha Bhat, CEO Dream a Dream said “The Dream a Dream’s school readiness survey aims to bring to the fore that pushing for schools to look at more online classes, cannot be the only solution, since the pandemic has been tremendously traumatic for students and with the added pressure of now having digital infrastructure in place, most students from vulnerable backgrounds will end up dropping out of school altogether. Schools have always played a significant role in protecting the wellbeing of students and at this juncture, students most need social emotional support from all angles, rather than the added pressure of online classes.” Sharing insights from the survey, Sreehari Ravindranath, Associate Director of Research at Dream a Dream said, “The survey, also showcased that these schools did not have any experience at handling online teaching interventions. In fact most schools are unclear on how to proceed further and require support for digital learning and online pedagogical solutions”.
It has been around 60 days that since schools closed due to the COVID 19 pandemic. While it is still unclear when the schools will re-open, this closure has impacted over 32 crore students in India. While various educational boards including NCERT and CBSE are exploring
