The Delhi government on Thursday announced a remote teaching-learning plan for all classes to address the issues of digital divide and reduce academic loss of students in the wake of the closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the plan focuses on reducing academic loss of students, the government is focusing on addressing the issues of digital divide as not all students have access to internet or smartphones, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced.
Sisodia, who is also Delhi's Education Minister, said the guest teachers employed in government schools will also be roped in the online teaching learning process.
"In the wake of the closure of schools till July 31, induced by the coronavirus situation, we have devised an alternate teaching-learning plan to reduce the academic loss of students in classes KG to 12 of all government and aided schools of Delhi.
"A plan of action in this regard has been worked out for students through a combination of strategies using digital devices and support of parents and the School Management Committees. We are following the principle that digital divide should not come in the way of children's access to learning opportunities," Sisodia said addressing an online press briefing.
Classes KG to 12 have been divided into three cohorts to follow three distinct strategies to support the learning of students.
"We have divided the classes into three separate cohorts, keeping the learning requirements of children at a different stages in mind and accordingly we will follow distinct strategies for each of these cohorts. Classes KG to 8 in cohort 1, classes 9 and 10 in cohort 2 and classes 11 and 12 in cohort 3," Sisodia said.
As per the plan, for classes KG to 8, daily syllabus agnostic worksheets with content and questions or activities that will promote reading, writing, understanding, basic numeracy and happiness among children will be sent by teachers.
Similarly, for classes 9 and 10, daily subject-specific worksheets with subject-related content to strengthen the basic understanding of core subject matters among students.
For classes 11 and 12, live online classes of up to two hours daily in 12 subjects having the highest enrolment starting with most basic topics would be conducted.
"All heads of schools have been asked to ensure that class teachers have the updated WhatsApp group of parents and students of their respective section. Teachers will also maintain a list of the number of parents who are not available on WhatsApp," Sisodia said.
He said those parents who are not in the WhatsApp group will be contacted over phone by the concerned class teachers and invited to the school to collect the worksheets for the entire weeks.
"Only those parents will be invited who will follow the physical distancing protocol. The completed assignment would be sent back by children or their parents to the teacher through WhatsApp or those who collected worksheets physically will return the completed assignment physically to the concerned teacher next week and pick up new worksheets.
"For students of class 12, live online classes will start from next week in 12 subjects having the highest enrolment. These classes will be approximately 45 minutes each and not more than two classes a day. The respective subject teachers in the school will follow up with their students over phone and WhatsApp and clear doubts if any. For class 11 students, live classes will start after the readmission of students post the class 10 board exam results," he added.
Further, apart from these regular teaching-learning activities, additional optional online teaching-learning activities will also be added from time-to-time to enhance the learning activities of students from their respective homes, Sisodia said.
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