18th November, 2021: Welcoming the state government’s official notification to open schools from 17th Nov, the Aditya Academy Group of Schools hosted an online discussion session, “Physical is Digital” where mental-health practitioners, doctors and parents came together to speak on “Students Coming Back to School.” The expert panel consisted of Dr. Subham Sabherwal, Psychiatrist and Resident Doctor, Dr. Partho Chakraborty, Pediatrician and Dr. Amit Kumar Banerjee, Medical Officer from the school’s medical wing and Teesta Dasgupta (Special Educator) along with psychologist Shweta Bhakta Ghosh and Rammi Jaiswal. The session was moderated by Indrani Goswami.
Senior Principal of Aditya Academy Group of Schools, Mrs. Sonali Sarkar was also present throughout the discussions, welcomed the reopening of schools and stressed that it would provide a huge impetus to the interpersonal skill development of children. The academy hosted this discussion to facilitate a platform for parents to voice their questions, concerns and suggestions.
Special educator Teesta Dasgupta elaborated the SOP (standard operating procedures) that the school has arranged before welcoming the students back to school. She assured parents by informing them about the following measures that the school has taken in order to ensure safety and hygiene within school premises:
- Regular and thorough sanitization of entire school building
- Availability of sanitizer bottles in classrooms and corridors without fail
- Separate isolation room to quarantine children lest they show symptoms
- All teachers and staff have been fully vaccinated and trained to follow safety measures
- Seating arrangement with social distancing norms has been arranged
In response to concerns raised by parents about long-duration mask wearing, Dr. Chakraborty informed that every child who feels suffocated will be allowed to go out in the open space and take off the mask for a few minutes for a breath of fresh air. He also urged parents to make mask-wearing for longer hours, a habit at home.
Resident Psychiatrist Dr. Sabherwal requested parents to schedule activities for children at home that could centre around hobbies in order to divert them from gadget or online games addiction which has become a common problem due to online schooling. “Opening of schools itself is the best way of ridding children of gadget addiction,” he said. He emphasized on offline schooling, pointing out how children can be better monitored in a classroom. “Classroom learning will make them less dependent on their gadgets to remember things and activate their memories once again,” he said.
Dr. Chakraborty spoke about a quick-response team and a strong surveillance model that the school has micro-planned and made ready for execution. The surveillance model includes a comprehensive survey of all classrooms and hostel facilities, immediate isolation by the quick-response team and prompt medical attention by a dedicated team of doctors and caregivers for symptomatic students.
Psychologist Rammi Jaiswal spoke about the vital concerns regarding special children. “The growth and development of such children, who learn better in peer groups, has been stunted since the outbreak of COVID-19. For them, learning in isolation from home has been a punishment for the past one year.
For children with ADHD, who take a long time to grasp and use a language, learning has become all the more challenging with online schooling,” she said, upholding the benefits of special children coming back to classrooms finally. She also requested the parents to send an extra pair of mask and sanitizer bottle as the school intends to maintain strict standards of hygiene and not allow masks to be shared or exchanged at any cost.
Psychologist Shweta Bhakta Ghosh requested parents to praise children more for their efforts in these difficult times when they have been introverted, low in self-esteem and shaken in confidence. “Engaging them in various activities, even in simple household chores could make them more responsible as individuals and raise their self-esteem,” she concluded.