The story of school life during the pandemic
Due to a nationwide lockdown, last spring, all activity came to a standstill not only in the economy but especially in the educational sector which was the worst affected as it involved children. But, by the end of June 2020, as the situation started to improve a little, the government issued an order that all schools could reopen and slowly start educational activity by only enrolling new children to the school, and then sending them back home again immediately advising them to join the school in online classes.
So, the Headmaster of the school held a meeting of all the workers atEbenezer School and made a plan to visit as many homes as we could, telling and making the parents aware that there was an online opportunity which was started by the school and encouraged them to join in. In this endeavor, we achieved some success as almost 200 children / parents showed their willingness to associate themselves with the school on it's now new digital platform of education that was the only means of providing education at the moment. These online classes have continued till February 2021.
In the month of February 2021, when the cases of the Coronavirus pandemic was at its lowest, the government finally gave the green signal to allow the children to attend classes again at the school. But, since there is no vaccine yet for the little children, the Government Guidelines stated that children should attend school on a rotation basis, meaning few classes at a time to keep children safe and secure. So, again the Headmaster called for a meeting of all the workers and made plans to ensure that all Government Guidelines were followed, and that each day proper sanitation was done of each class and each child was properly scanned before being permitted to enter the school campus. It was made mandatory for all to wear masks when in the campus of the school.
But, sadly as Karwi, a small town, surrounded by a small cluster of villages, saw a lower attendance at the school. The Headmaster then requested the Teaching Staff to again pay a visit to the homes of the children (this activity of House Visits takes approximately 7 to 10 days to complete) and encourage the parents to send their children to school. But, already terrified bythe deaths caused by Covid-19, many opted still for the online education rather than send their children to the school at this stage. So, from the month of February 2021 about 20% of the children were attending school, and 40% were in online classes.
Just as it looked that things would return to normal again, the Government again ordered all schools to close with the infection rate increasing at an alarming rate than what was witnessed last year. This is our grave situation now.
Student story
Name of Children Age Class
Priya Singh 9 years 3rd
Priyanka Singh 6 Years 1st
These two girls are the daughters of Mr. Shiv Mohan, a farmer who livesnot very far from the school in the village named Sonepur . He earns his income from the produce of his fields and drives a taxi during the daytime. He came to hear about this Sponsorship Program supported by Glocal Aid from reading an advertisement displayed along the road one day as he was driving his taxi one day in the marketplace.
He visited the school the next day and decided to enroll his both Priyaand Priyanka. After being provided with school equipment and school uniforms his daughters' faces brightened up and they ran home excited and happy with what they had been given.
Now both the girls are very happy at the school and their parents are satisfied at the progress of their daughters’ education. They still have a younger sister who will be joining her elder sisters once the school re-opens after this Covid-19 Pandemic passes out. The little sister is the most excited to start her schooling in the atmosphere and facilities provided by you loving people at Glocal Aid.