As schools across the country finally open up, educators and students continue to face post-pandemic challenges including getting acclimated to the school room dynamic, proximity with others while maintaining safety protocols, dealing with anxiety about catching the virus and struggling with tangible learning gaps. While online learning modules succeeded in achieving a sense of continuity in education, they distanced teachers from observing their students from close quarters. Educator Rajesh Bhatia who also runs online and offline preschool chain TreeHouse says, “For preschool children and those just starting their academic journey, guidance in reading and writing has to be very hands-on. This was not possible during the pandemic and we are seeing gaps in the reading and writing fluency of children as they return to their classrooms.”
Educationist and Entrepreneur Rajesh Bhatia – Founder of TreeHouse Education
While he is happy that children deprived of socialization can now get back to interacting with peers and teachers in an actual classroom setting, he also notes their struggle with writing and reading and how it can also lead them to experience stress and anxiety. Rajesh Bhatia says, “To help children to navigate these issues, at TreeHouse, we have devised modules that test the levels at which children are reading and writing. And in keeping with their needs, refresher courses and extra support is offered. This helps children to grow beyond their digital skills and fine-tune writing skills, learn spellings without the aid of an automatic spell checker and read without constant distractions. Children have learnt to type very well during the pandemic and we want them to be good writers.”
This internal assessment and remedial program is available to all students. For students in class 1, 2 and 3, such sessions will be invaluable and there will be help extended also to brush up arithmetic skills. For students in class 4, 5, 6, and 7, help will be extended in any area that they are struggling with and for students in class 8, 9, and 10, the focus will be to get them fully prepared for their board exams. Guest educators will also be helping these students to be exam ready.
Says Rajesh Bhatia, “For parents, it is important that a school is sensitive to their children’s needs and is not overpriced or out of reach. We are trying to create modules, infrastructure and a curriculum that is cognisant of all that the children have faced during the pandemic and we want to offer them the best possible learning environment to transition into the future that awaits them as young adults.”
TreeHouse Education & Accessories Ltd. is one of the leading providers of education services in India and operates the largest number of self-operated pre-schools.
