Mental health, not academics, is top priority for Pune schools as students return to campuses

District Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar announced on Saturday that educational institutions in Pune will reopen on February 1.

School directors said that meetings and training sessions are being held for teaching staff to plan icebreaker sessions with students and also to sensitize teachers to give children some time to adjust to a routine.

“The older students had come to school for at least a few weeks, but the younger ones will come in two years. Much has happened since then. They had to adapt to a new way of learning, all social contact was lost, they could not meet their classmates or friends. Each house has its own story, some lost loved ones or were affected by Covid, anxiety was always high, some parents faced financial challenges. We have to understand and accommodate all these things when children come to school. So for the first few days our focus is to have fun activities, get them to open up and talk, interact with friends and teachers. If online teaching was done right, academics are not a big concern, but emotional well-being is important right now,” said Jayshree Venkatraman, SNBP school principal.

While, on the one hand, the students faced severe anxiety and had to deal with constant change, the schools’ support system, in the form of counseling, could not be adequately provided, despite best efforts.

“When a student studies online, their parents, siblings, and others are often close by, making it difficult for them to open up. We’ve seen so many cases of helicopter parenting, where the parents keep coming in and nagging the kids, asking them to feel better, to answer correctly, and to constantly watch. There are so many stress points, even within homes, that we may not be aware of. At school, children are in front of teachers who know them well. They pick up on subtle hints, gestures, and provide help to children. All this interaction was absent during the years of the pandemic. Our focus during the first few weeks will be to help our children settle in, allay their anxieties and fears, by providing them with a safe environment. Social skills are also something we have to work on,” said Damini Joshi, Principal of Sanskriti School, Pune.

Schools have already hired counselors to help teachers make lesson plans to balance academic and social activities.

Anveet Sudhir Pathak, principal of The Millennium School, agrees that the mental well-being of both students and teachers is a priority as schools reopen. “I think it would also help restore student confidence, which was somewhat affected during the pandemic. And instead of focusing on full-time academics, perhaps schools need to start with some bridging courses that will help students overcome any shortcomings in online learning, which will automatically help lessen their anxiety,” he said.