For months, children in India and Nepal could not go to school. Since autumn, schools have been opening step by step. Children, parents and teachers all wish to return to the classroom.

The safe environment at the schools is enormously important for the children. Interaction with peers fosters social development and enables them to grow up in a child-friendly setting. Especially for children from low-income families, attending school is indispensable. For them, school education forms the basis for an independent and self-determined future.

The principal of the Penthakata School in Odisha points out that families lack the financial resources to provide the technology needed for distance learning. At the same time, very few parents are able to support their children in learning at home, as they themselves rarely had access to formal education and the needed knowledge. However, the children are also not mature enough to teach themselves the subject matter. He fears that many children will drop out of school.

Thus, the need to catch up is particularly urgent after the long time spent in distance education. Students, families and teachers are hoping all the more for a return to face-to-face teaching. Since autumn, the opening of the schools has been proceeding step by step.

In Odisha, classes 8, 9 and 10 have been taught locally again since August. Since mid-November, the students of grades 6 and 7 have also been allowed back into the classrooms of the Penthakata School. Initially, classes are only held in the morning. The students are still free to participate online or on site.

“With unmitigated zeal and great personal commitment, our teachers met the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. They adapted teaching methods and visited students at home to check on their progress. However, teachers emphasise that online teaching can never replace classroom teaching.”

Mr. N. Sahoo, Principal of the Penthakata School in Puri

Normality is also slowly returning to the other schools. In Nepal, schools have also reopened after the long holiday break. School materials are being distributed to the children there these days.