Opening School's Amidst a Pandemic – 5 things all schools must ensure

As schools and educational institutions prepare to resume activities across the country, the scare of the pandemic worsens with each passing day. While governments have changed the narrative around the severity of the disease seeking public cooperation, school owners and operators must be mindful to strengthen their defense and develop strategies to mitigate, tackle and overcome the ill effects of the corona virus.

Schools need to understand that their eagerness to reopen should not result in nearsightedness. The rush to resume activities can lead to managerial oversight leading to drastic ramifications such as school closures and containment. Keeping the safety of all teachers, students and staff in mind, the schools must work towards creation of a detailed recommencement plan in line not only with the national regulations but also by understanding international best practices and guidelines issued by bodies such as UNESCO, WHO, IIEP etc.

Amidst the many attributes of schooling that must be evaluated by the management, here are 5 key areas that require the highest attention:

1.) Identify High Contact Zones

It is imperative for schools to seek out and identify areas in the school where students and staff come in close contact with each other. The best way of doing so is reviewing a student’s typical day in the school and identify likely common areas and interaction points where the student is widely exposed. Beginning from the classroom, cafeteria, auditoriums right down to water coolers and play grounds will need to be individually assessed in order to adhere to social distancing norms. In accordance with the respective state government regulations, schools must devise a student attendance strategy and supplement the same with cordoning off areas that require physical engagement and supervising the same to ensure that social distancing is strictly followed.

2.) Develop Sanitation Strategies

All school inventories must be properly sanitized at the end of each school day in order to make the school a hazard free environment. Regular cleaning and decontamination of guard rails, door handles, classroom benches, lab equipment etc. must be undertaken. School cleaning staffs must be provided with adequate PPE gear and should be allocated rotational shifts to continually clean lavatories, staff rooms, auditoriums etc. If the school provides transport, then all vehicles must properly be inspected and duly sanitized prior to student pickups as well as after drop offs.

3.) Revisit Academic Calendars

As schools choose to reopen, and activities resume, time is of the essence. Schools need to act fast and assertively to deal with the ill effects of the pandemic as well as address the need for completion of course content. All schools should actively look into their academic calendar and re-evaluate their options to achieve maximum course completion before the next academic session. Of course, the guidance of all affiliated boards is critical to this aspect, however schools should be well prepared to explore concepts such as accelerated learning and new age teaching in greater detail. Academic calendars must be condensed and optimized to achieve the maximum within the available time. Schools need to chalk off all non academic events and repurpose their time towards core education. This is the time when schools would need to make up for lost time and get back on their path to normalcy.

 4.) Embrace Technology

The school education industry at large has been one of the worst hit industries across the world. In India, schools scrambled to shift curriculum online in the wake of the pandemic. COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerabilities of the education system and it is important, now more than ever for schools to become more accepting of the use of technology within their pedagogies. In emergency situations like the corona outbreak, technology is perhaps an enabler and not a deterrent to education as schools still believe. Schools must invest in teacher education and infrastructural improvements in order to introduce technology and modern day teaching aids within the classroom and enable unperturbed education.

5.) Rapidly Evolve

Schools, like all other industries have now ventured into uncharted territory. While medical science makes quantum leaps everyday in seeking a cure to the pandemic, schools must have their eyes and ears open to any new information that comes to light. They must be able to adapt, improvise and overcome any situation down the line without an impact on student education. They must strategize in a manner that allows them the flexibility to swiftly factor in any new changes that emerge in the coming months. They must review at regular intervals and further refine elements that are not working for them. School management must enable all stakeholders including teachers, students and parents to be ready to transition with the school as it battles the consequences of the pandemic in its own unique way. Schools must also consult, communicate and coordinate with the right departments actively in order to be ahead of the curve if the situation worsens.

As schools slowly grapple with the idea of running an institution amidst a global pandemic, here are a few safeguards that they can consider as part of their recommencement strategy:

• Installation of thermal scanners at school entrance to check body temperatures
• Setting up sanitizing stations around the school with contact less alcohol based sanitizer distribution
• Providing instant read thermometers to school infirmary and medical staff
• Suspend all activities requiring presence of more than 20 students such as morning assembly, sports etc.
• Keeping a mandatory safety kit in each classroom
• Ensuring classroom seating is such that 1.5m distance is maintained between 2 consecutive students
• Ensure sufficient signage and notices across the schools reminding everyone of the protocols at play  
• Ensure individuals without masks are not permitted on the school premises

Using these as starting points, schools can build onwards to a robust and flexible strategy to efficiently reopen and resume activities. Schools can also seek out the right partnerships from leading organizations that are closely monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on the sector and can shoulder the responsibility alongside the management to help them expedite their progress to normalcy.

History & Trends of Online Learning & Screen Time

Online learning for young children in schools is an area that has received widespread acceptance and fair share of criticism. A close examination of facts, best practices and expert views reveals that online learning for all age groups is here to stay. Online learning is the only strategy that schools possess to ensure continuity in learning and personalized learning journey for each student. There is worldwide acceptance of the benefits of the online learning that further the cause of quality education however, the limitations of online learning must also be recognized. 

School educators, policy makers and regulators must focus on staying the course even under the pressure of outbreaks. Keeping student interests in mind, schools must ensure that learning continuity is maintained until full operations are resumed. Online learning techniques today have evolved substantially and can be channelized to assist with the student’s cognitive development as it is clear that learning consistency, routine and developmental learning window are important factors for children of young ages. In fact, leading schools across the world have employed the latest in online learning and designed systems that address the obvious reservations related to virtual environments and target even the social and emotional learning of their students.

Leading medical and child welfare organizations have now assumed a more supportive position of the idea of online learning. Organization such as WHO, UNESCO and IIEP have come out with new guidelines that provide an extensive framework on how to employ online learning techniques in an ethical and productive manner. The push for online education from local and global governments is substantial and is a clear indicator of the renewed understanding amongst leaders and reformers of the countries. It is clear that the common understanding now is that online learning can yield credible results provided it is administered and monitored in the right way with the help of systemic safeguards. 

Concerns around screen time have now been deliberated upon enough to prove that the quality screen time must be encouraged. While it is widely agreed that children must be allowed to engage in physical activities, it is also possible to ensure that young children do so with the help of online coaches or embedded bursts of free time. All stakeholders must approach the screen time issue from an objective viewpoint and differentiate active and passive screen usage. Experts have clearly mentioned that it is the passive, mindless and mechanical use of screen time on activities such as aimless social media browsing, binge watching and excessive gaming that inflict much more damage on young, developing minds than productive and cognitive activities such as investigative and experiential learning. Hence, rules, regulations or guidelines must consider the ‘good or bad screen usage time’ rather than ‘good or bad screen time’. 

Schools must now be more ready than ever to leverage online learning and ensure that students continue to grow and develop as they ought to. With no end to the pandemic in sight, online learning is the only way to render education to children of all ages. If the policy makers, regulators and schools can collaborate to share best practices and learn from each other around the globe, they can efficiently and swiftly cover the lost ground and provide high quality education to all students.

Eduvisors partnered with FICCI ARISE to develop a report containing insights with specific reference to systemic safeguards for all schools to consider: Available here.

Changing Face of The Traditional Schooling Model

Schooling, as we know it, is defined by buildings, classrooms, books and schedules. Traditional schooling has been considered as the only way to a balanced education; until now. The year 2020, as dreadful as it may seem, has brought with it a new reckoning for the prevalent model of schooling across the world. As schools lie helpless in the wake of the pandemic, a closer look reveals the unpreparedness and loopholes of the system as a whole. COVID-19 has not only exposed the cracks but has also brought to light the need for re-evaluation and assessment of the effectiveness of the prevalent schooling model.

Why do things need to change?

Several researchers and experts have been strong critiques of the traditional schooling model. The archaic vision of schools coupled with dated teaching techniques has lead to their loss of faith in the system. In fact, some even claim that the present schooling model is being approached as more of a business and not as social responsibility. Individuals behind schools no longer take pride in the noble cause of empowering young minds and contributing to the intellectual capital of the nation. Even teachers are now of the ‘job driven’ mindset and are not interested in imparting education which could largely be attributed to the socio-economic scenario in the country.

Looking at the sector as a whole, almost every educational institution has been adversely affected. However, the colossal turn of events has also brought about a renewed mindset and refreshed thinking to the table. The trends and analysis clearly indicate a new dawn for schooling in India and the world. A new model is emerging – one that is more innovative, forward looking and future proof. The industry seems to be leaning heavily towards online modes of teaching and learning. More and more schools are becoming highly accepting of technology as an enabler in such perilous times. Thanks to concepts such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, IoT, innovators are designing better and more efficient ways of learning every single day. The face of the educational framework is certainly positioned for a radical change in the next few years.

Specifically speaking, EdTech firms in the country have reported upto 60% increase in user base in a month which is a testament to the changing mindset amongst all stakeholders in the schooling process. Schools have also invested heavily in their IT framework and have also strategized to move their curriculum online. Teachers are being trained and refined to embrace technology as an ally. Students have come forward and shown a keen interest in learning online and attending live lessons. Parents have also become more accepting of the idea of e-learning and encourage their children to choose digital learning.

For the first time ever, concepts like digital literacy are being explored. The American Library Association (ALA) defines digital literacy as “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills”. Students and teachers around the world are increasingly becoming digitally literate. In India, the government has also mobilized significant capital towards digital literacy missions such as DIKSHA - the government’s online learning portal which has registered over 61 crore views since March 2020. This accelerated adoption of technology has given a renewed outlook to the face of schooling and education as a whole.

Another interesting concept being heavily talked about is the idea of ‘Online Schooling’; not to be confused with ‘Homeschooling’. While online schooling is a way of offering state sponsored curricula to students and families, homeschooling relates primarily to the purchase of curriculum to be in turn taught by the parents. Online schooling presents immense opportunities for both students and teachers to assume greater control and also assigns parental responsibility to help the child stay on his/her learning path.

What is Online Schooling?

Online schooling is a branch of the EdTech industry which is defined by a heavy reliance on technology and innovativeness. Students are exposed to a blended model including both online and offline ways of learning. Teachers are expected to teach in both synchronous and asynchronous teaching formats. Parent’s shoulder responsibility with the school and act as learning coaches to steer their child’s progress in the right direction. All in all, it is an inclusive form of schooling and shows great promise for the future.

As the schooling model slowly gravitates towards a tech enabled, student centric sector, it is also important for schools to look into stakeholder education aspects. Significant efforts have to be made in the direction of reaching out to technologically averse sets of parents and exposing them to the many benefits of online schooling such as personalization, individual attention, analysis and monitoring etc. The traditional model of schooling will continue to interfere with the natural progression of the industry as long as there are people that choose to believe in its effectiveness. While the traditional model has its merits, it has now become counter intuitive to the idea of education. It is time for schools to act now if they wish to ride the wave of technology enabled schooling in the days to come.

COVID-19: A New Dawn for the Indian Edtech Space

The term EdTech has off late come to encompass a wide variety of business models and value propositions. As the global schooling model slowly warms up to the idea of technology enabled learning, the Indian market space too is showing a promising trajectory with massive investments being funneled towards Edtech initiatives. Both public and private players are rapidly diversifying to design and innovate more efficient ways of teaching and learning indicating a radical shift in market understanding.

As the pandemic hit the country, about 5 million students in schools were impacted. Schools had no contingency plans to tackle such events and the education system was on the verge of collapse. In an effort to salvage student learning, schools switched to online video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, and Skype etc. to push classroom teaching. These tools however, were never really designed for live lesson delivery and therefore lacked immensely in functionality and aesthetic. Moreover, students were able to take advantage of their schools unpreparedness and indulged in mischief and unscrupulous activities thereby completely defeating the true purpose of learning.

A closer look however, also brought forth a few schools that had invested in the idea of online learning and were able to swiftly move their curriculum online. Their teachers were well trained to use these learning environments and students were acquainted with E-Learning during normal schooling which cumulatively lead to minimal impact on student learning when the pandemic hit. Such incidents however, are a dime a dozen, and there is a vast majority of the Indian market space that is still searching for online learning models to support their recommencement plans.

In order to leverage staggering spike in demand, Indian Edtech firms have started offering a wide variety of features such as personalized learning, and expert led sessions as an alternative to traditional schooling. While these services were only supporting student learning prior to the pandemic, they have now been repositioned to be a replacement to regular schooling altogether. Leading Edtech players such as Byju’s, Vedantu, Unacademy etc. have expanded the scope of their services to offer live lesson delivery, digital lesson planning and personalization of learning paths for students to take advantage of. In fact, their efforts have yielded shocking results with some firms reporting a consistent month on month user base increase of 60%. Even top investors have significantly increased their investments in the Indian Edtech space which is estimated to be valued at over US$200 billion.

Learning management solutions are now being leveraged by schools for front end classroom delivery activities. Geared purely towards E-learning, Learning Management solutions are cloud based frameworks that emulate regular schooling activities, digitally. Schools can schedule classes, assign teachers, supervise lesson delivery while students can view their timetables, attend live classrooms and submit assignments all through the use of this learning management system. In fact, important aspects such as attendance, assessments and course material provisions are also possible through these learning management solutions. Global giants such as Google and Microsoft have also launched their schooling solutions to address front end aspects of schooling and cash in the momentum of the Edtech space.

In India, several universities have also adopted the use of highly sophisticated proctoring solutions to conduct their online examinations. These solutions provide web based candidate authentication and AI based supervision services which can perfectly be integrated with almost all leading Learning Management Solution providers. Government departments have also started using these proctoring solutions to conduct important competitive entrance exams such as those related to banking and finance.

Indian startups that primarily operate in the exam preparation market have also significantly increased their contribution to the overall Edtech pie. There has been an increase of over 14% in their addressable base in the last year. Studies also indicate that test preparation and online certification firms earned a whopping US$1.6 billion as revenue in FY19 and had the highest capital inflow in Edtech. This surge in adoption has also given rise to innovative propositions such AI based doubt clearing applications, designing of learning applications for the visually impaired etc.

It is safe to assume that the EdTech space in India is perhaps one of the most attractive sectors to be in at the moment. Even in the face of a worldwide outbreak, investors have been able to exit big and early stage startups have been able to ride the wave of technology driven learning. This trajectory is clearly setting precedent for the absolute requirement of online curriculum support systems and digital literacy in the education space in general. This is a great opportunity for thought leaders and critical thinkers to venture into uncharted territory to identify niche segments that can be developed into self sustaining verticals.

School Quality Assurance: Standards That All Schools Must Attain

All leading schools must aspire for excellence across all schooling practices and operations. It is the mark of a well-rounded institution that strives for quality beyond education and curriculum. The pursuit of excellence should be weaved into the school ethos and pedagogy. As the schooling market becomes more competitive at an exponential rate, a qualitatively appealing value proposition is perhaps the strongest differentiator all premier schools would possess. The schools commitment towards quality in education and operations has a direct correlation to their student results and admission volumes.

The critical question therefore becomes – how do schools ensure quality standards par excellence? It is interesting to note, that all schools claim to offer excellence in quality education, however very few actually deliver on these claims. Objective measures of quality are essential to understand the true picture of a school’s quality standards. It is a common practice for schools to comparatively evaluate their standards of quality against those of competitors in the same region and offering similar infrastructure, however, such evaluations are seldom based on analysis and methodical calculations. These are in fact just a comparison of student intake and annual results.

Quality assessment necessitates an investigation of all aspects of schooling in order to understand what emerging improvement areas should be addressed on priority. There needs to be an independent evaluation in order to safeguard against a compromise due to a personal bias. An industry accepted mark of quality is AuditED. A hallmark of excellence in quality of education, school audits and improvement or AuditED is a method of quality assurance developed over the years through process and function audits of K12 schools globally, and is designed primarily to distinguish schools adhering to a set of high educational standards. The AuditED process is well known for its ability to effectively drive student performance and ensure continuous improvement in education

A significant recognition of a school’s quality of education, AuditED is also an enriching process for the K12 schools to get an opportunity to improve on the existing standards of delivery. AuditED enables K12 schools to compare their performance against research based quality standards thus producing a wealth of rich insight and enabling them to raise their performance and effectiveness standards. The process requires schools to critically evaluate its vision, strategies, priorities, leadership, programs and resources. This method of earning and maintaining the accreditation provides schools and educational systems with clear and compelling direction for implementing changes required and move towards excellence.

AuditED approaches the idea of quality improvement as an investigation of critical aspects such as school administration, employee management, teaching and learning, student management etc. Understanding the policies and procedures across these aspects and pitting them against internationally recognized best practices and standards, AuditED prepares the schools for an enhanced learning experience and recommends optimal frameworks for providing high quality education. Schools that attain the accreditation benefit from a global network of distinct and quality committed schools as well as receive external and objective validation of the areas in which they are doing well and areas that can be improved upon. Needless to say that AuditED prescriptions have been tested and proven across the industry and come recommended by experts that have pioneered the best available ideas and education practices.

Schools must also commit to a review of policies and procedures every few years in order to maintain their excellence in quality. Revision and modernization of teaching methodologies is necessary to keep pace with the dynamic market and diverse student and parent needs. AuditED pre mandates the cooperation of the school and leadership in respect of document provision and candid interaction with stakeholders. Tweaking policies to combat modern realities such as outbreaks is essential to develop a formidable response to current and future pandemics. Students, teachers and staff must be ensured of their safety and protection at all times. Additionally, with revenue depreciation in the past few months, schools, also need to re-evaluate their expense structures in order to withstand the onslaught of the pandemic. AuditED can help schools optimize their costs by highlighting wasteful expenditures that would not have come to light under normal circumstances.

As schools prepare to gradually open, it will not be long before they will need to consider all possibilities of maintaining learning continuity for their students as modern learning and teaching techniques will define education in the very near future. Recognized quality standards will give schools the edge and the benefit of being ahead of their competition since accredited standards instill confidence and signal preparedness on behalf of the schools in the minds of students and parents.Find out all about AuditED and it's benefits here.