Restarting education: Govt resumes classes for CCIs

New Delhi: After the brutal fourth wave of the pandemic in the Capital, while the Delhi government's Women and Child Development Department has been working on overdrive to reach children distressed by the virus, another important task for officials in the department has been slowly bringing education back to the Child Care Institutions across the city.

The department has now allowed a few teachers to come inside CCIs and teach these children. "Proper precautions have been taken for the safety of children inside CCIs," one official said. "There are 26 government-run and 75 NGO-run CCIs in Delhi that provide care and protection services to children. Over 800 are living in government-run CCIs, whereas more than 2,200 children live in NGO-run CCIs," sources said.

In view of regular schools being shut, the department's focus has been to keep the learning process on through digital modes. Rashmi Singh, Director at the WCD Department, said online classes are being provided to the children by guest teachers appointed by the department.

Volunteers who are selected after the due process are also permitted to expand the resource pool. "The department recently collaborated with a team of enthusiasts from reputed colleges like LSR coming together through a voluntary initiative called Myra-Ek-Pahel to provide online classes for CCIs run by the government. These online classes are provided through the use of a common projector, tablets and also mobile phones," Singh added.

These classes are usually held between 10:30 am and 5:30 pm, although the timings for specific CCIs may vary depending on their respective daily schedules, children and teachers. "Focus is given on the weak subjects as identified by the different CCIs. Mostly the focus is given on subjects like — English, Science and Maths," an official said.

When asked about the teaching capacity at CCIs during the pandemic, an official said around two to three guest teachers have been engaged in each CCI and the department has also planned to add educators.

In March, the department issued an advisory for CCIs to protect the children from the virus. The superintendents were advised to not take children to any crowded places and planned visits outside the CCIs were postponed unless essential.

The advisory added, if any child is found suffering from cough or sneeze or showing flu-like symptoms, a doctor must be consulted immediately and the child should be kept in isolation with full attention. "Visits of dignitaries(Indian, foreigner)will be discouraged. If such a visit is necessary, permission will be sought from the higher authorities headquarter," the advisory added.

The staff and children will be advised, even if their hands do not seem dirty, to clean, wash their hands at regular intervals at least for 20 seconds. It will also ensure that visiting family members of children are allowed to talk to their children from a safe distance.