The school education system in India encompasses a student population that is larger than the population of each of the countries located in the European and African continents,having more than 240 million students and 8.5 million teachers across primary, upper-primary, secondary and senior-secondary stages.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the closure of schools, and students and teachers have been confined in their homes. Due to closure of schools, the course of formal learning in the form of teaching-learning of curriculum, including academic calendar, has been disturbed. However, the nature of learning is such that it never stops. Learning occurs naturally with interaction with nature, objects and individuals; sometimes with the learner not even realising it.
During the pandemic, formal learning that takes place in schools in the form of face-to-face interaction between teachers and students as well as among the fellow learners, has been replaced by the use of various alternative modes–online, TV, mobile, radio, textbooks, etc.
The States/UTs and Ministry of Education have been making efforts for providing education to children at their homes through alternate means of delivery such as, distribution of textbooks at homes of learners, telephonic guidance by teachers, online and digital content through various media, online classes conducted by the teachers, activity based learning through the Alternate Academic Calendar released by NCERT, etc.
The alternative modes, though praiseworthy, have certain limitations. The alternative modes do not ensure equitable quality learning for all students due to various factors such as unequal distribution of time of teachers, students having differential access to technological devices, and lack of support for learning at homes in several cases. As a result, closure of schools is likely to lead to loss of learning and deficiencies in the achievement of students‟ learning outcomes.
The ensuing suggestions for Learning Enhancement (LE) during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic have been prepared to address the issues related to gaps and/or loss of learning among students, during and after the lockdown, by the Ministry of Education through NCERT for children having Limited Digital Learning Device (LDLD Group).
The Alternative Academic Calendar developed by NCERT is complete in itself for any kind of learners, including LDLD. Several activities can be done at home under the guidance of teachers, with the help of resources commonly available at every home. Following is a summary of the learning activities for LDLD:
Classes/Subjects | Learning Opportunities to be Provided | Modalities |
Classes-I to V Subjects For classes I-II Languages and Mathematics (Environmental Concerns are integrated across these two subject areas) For classes III-V Languages and Mathematics and Environmental Studies (EVS) |
Content/Activities Learning outcome-based
Language Skills
Fitness and Creativity
|
Guidelines/Document for support- Alternative Academic Calendar developed by the NCERT includes detailed guidelines about conducting learning outcome-based activities PRAGYATA- Guidelines for Digital Education developed by the NCERT, released by the Ministry of Education: Class Recommendation – Pre-Primary On a given day for interacting with parents and guiding them, not more than 30 minutes. Classes 1 to 8 Online synchronous learning may be undertaken for not more than two sessions of 30-45 minutes each on the days the States/UTs decide to have online classes for primary sections Use of Energized Textbooks At present textbooks generally have QR codes which contain many e-contents mapped with the learning outcomes available on e- pathshala, DIKSHA, NROER, etc. Children and parents may be guided to use these QR codes using smart phone for enhancing learning. Digital Tools
Learning Resources
Frequency
Classes 1 to 12 Recommended to adopt/adapt the alternative academic calendar of NCERT at |
Time Duration For Classes- 1-2 One hour a day in a staggered manner as per the readiness of children for activities of their choice for example –drawing or physical activity or writing or doing mathematics. |
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For Classes- 3-5 One and half hour a day in a staggered manner as per the readiness of children for activities of their choice for example –drawing or physical activity or writing or doing mathematics. (For primary classes, teachers may guide parents to support children for learning) Assessment Discussion with parents on the following parameter-
Child‟s drawing or some writing work may be asked through WhatsApp for ensuring that child has been learning at home. |
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Upper Primary (Classes 6-8) |
Content/Activities Learning outcomes based
Language Skills
Fitness and Creativity
Time Duration-
(It must not be used as replacement of face-to-face classes)
Assessment Discussion with parents on the
Child‟s drawing or some writing work may be asked through WhatsApp for ensuring and promoting child„s progress in learning at home |
Guidelines/Document for support. Alternative Academic Calendar developed by the NCERT includes detailed guidelines about conducting learning outcome-based activities: Classes 1 to 12 Recommended to adopt/adapt the alternative academic calendar of NCERT PRAGYATA- Guidelines for Digital Education developed by the NCERT, released by the Ministry of Education: Class Recommendations – Pre-Primary On a given day for interacting with parents and guiding them, not more than 30 minutes. Classes 1 to 8 Online synchronous learning may be undertaken for not more than two sessions of 30-45 minutes each on the days the States/UTs decide to have online classes for primary sections Use of Energized Textbooks At present textbooks generally have QR codes which contain many e-contents mapped with the learning outcomes available on e-pathshala, DIKSHA, NROER, etc. Children and parents may be guided to use these QR codes using smartphone for enhancing learning. Digital Tools
Learning Resources
Frequency
|
Secondary (Class 9 and 10) |
Content/Activities Learning outcomes based
Language Skills
Fitness and Creativity
Time Duration-
(It must not be used as replacement of face-to-face classes)
Assessment Discussion with parents on the following parameter-
The child's drawing or some writing work may be asked through WhatsApp for ensuring and promoting child's progress in learning at home |
PRAGYATA Recommendations Classes 9 to 12 Online synchronous learning may be undertaken for not more than four sessions of 30-45 minutes on each of the days as decided by States/UTs. Alternative Academic Calendar developed by the NCERT includes detailed guidelines about conducting learning outcome-based activities: Classes 1 to 12 Recommended to adopt/adapt the alternative academic calendar of NCERT Use of Energized Textbooks At present textbooks are generally having QR codes which contain many e-contents mapped with the learning outcomes available on e-pathshala, DIKSHA, NROER, etc. Children and parents may be guided to use these QR codes using smartphone for enhancing learning. |
Higher Secondary (Classes 11-12) |
Note –
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PRAGYATA Recommendations Classes 9 to 12 Online synchronous learning may be undertaken for not more than four sessions of 30-45 minutes on each of the days as decided by States/UTs. Alternative Academic Calendar developed by the NCERT includes detailed guidelines about conducting learning outcome-based activities: Classes 1 to 12 Recommended to adopt/adapt the alternative academic calendar of NCERT |
Last Modified : 8/23/2021
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