Special classes for special kids during lockdown in Jaipur

TNN | Updated: May 5, 2020, 12:05 IST

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JAIPUR: From teaching kids to exercise, giving them assignments or telling them about the benefits of wearing masks, online classes for special children are difficult for both teachers and students.
Hundreds of students in Jaipur study in special schools and during lockdown they are facing plenty of problems apart from just being stuck at home.
Meena Rajput, principal of Lakshay Special School in Jaipur, said initially students showed aggressive behaviour. “Suddenly, they were stuck in homes so they showed restlessness and aggressive symptoms. Now they have become used to it but still making them sit for two hours is difficult as they have less attention span. We have students with multiple disability, intellectual disability and autism. Some students need regular exercise or their body becomes stiff. If we miss a few sessions we have to start from scratch. We need to teach students as per their disability,” said Rajput.
Prayas Special School, Jaipur’s principal, Kalpana Mehta, showed concern about difficulty to arrange for online classes. “Most of the students in our school come from economically weaker backgrounds. We cannot start online classes as not everyone can afford a smart phone or even if they can, parents have different priorities. Parents have to be counselled most of the time to give special attention to their children as their priority is their survival,” said Mehta.
Most students cannot just the material given, so practical tasks are given to them so that they will learn something useful at home.
Deepak Kalra, principal of Umang Special School said that they have given different tasks to students. “We asked them to measure things at home with an inch tape to learn about measurement. Identify different pulses, vegetables or make some art work. Children with various disabilities are studying here and in online classes we are focusing on their problems individually,” said Kalra.
Schools are finding ways to prepare their students about social distancing and wearing masks in school after the lockdown is lifted.
“Students with autism are very sensitive with cloth and they immediately remove the mask if worn by parents. We have asked parents to make them wear masks at home for at least 30 minutes to 2 hours. We are focusing on teaching our children about social distancing which is a humongous task. But we are slowly preparing them so after the lockdown is lifted, we won’t have to start from scratch,” said Kalra.