When schools closed early due to the current global health crisis, the Education
initiative was troubled most– the intervention had just got off the ground one month
previously. Moreover, Himmotthan knew that keeping children out of school for months
meant setbacks in their learning and development. This was a serious issue, especially
for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, who already achieved less on average
than their better-off companions. Himmotthan through volunteers and para teachers
swung into quick action. Beginning the first week of April, several open community
classrooms were set up across project villages in six districts so students who
didn’t have smartphones could be taught for two hours each in the morning and evening.
At the same time, 150 government teachers of Kotabag block in Nainital at the foothills
of Middle Himalayas, supported by Himmotthan volunteers, came together to create
a WhatsApp group to engage rural children in activities such as Early Literacy,
Numeracy, Arts and Crafts and Physical Literacy with emphasis on learning improvement,
through audio-visual stories and poems, asking questions and encouraging interaction,
as well as organizing story-telling, poetry recitation, painting and arts and crafts
competitions to help students express their feelings. These activities fulfill Himmotthan’s
project objectives as well as help map children’s learning outcomes during this
lockdown period. Himmotthan team also focused on building teacher capacity using
platforms like Zoom, YouTube, and Facebook. They also hosted a series of workshops:
children’s literature exponent and winner of the 2019 ‘Big Little Book Award’, Prabhat,
and Uday Kirola conducted a session on the need for books in their ‘mother tongue’
for children in the primary section; Ambarish Ray, National Convener, RTE Forum,
held a Zoom session on RTE during COVID; Shiv Prasad Semwal, CEO, SSA, hosted a
session on teachers’ engagement during COVID, Parag’s Nitu Singh held sessions on
Library Management, and Reading Abilities for Teachers. Alongside, Himmotthan’s
education team also encouraged children to cultivate a reading habit during Lockdown.
The importance of mental health during these stressful times was not overlooked
– in collaboration with the Institute of Human Behavior & Allied Sciences, the Himmotthan
team organized a ‘National Seminar on Mental Health during COVID’ for both teachers
and students.