The long absence from school is impacting the growth of leadership and organisational skills of the children and robbing them of the opportunity to be independent and think on their feet, parents and teachers say.
Activities that students would do in school such as taking part in safety patrol, scouts and guides or joining rehearsals for the sports day programme would empower them with skills beyond academics.
Students “learn to tackle situations” when they join safety patrols, which manage cars of parents coming to drop their children, said Terence Ireland, principal of St James' School.
“The school, by assigning these tasks to students, teaches them skills that prepare them for life.”
Senior students in several schools supervise the practice of march-past for the sports day. Teachers say such activities impart organisational skills in the students.
Similarly, by being a scout one has to learn to pitch a tent, live in uncomfortable conditions and adapt to situations.
“The more the children participate in extra-curricular activities, the more they learn leadership and organisational skills, all of which have gone for a toss in the last two years. These skills stand them in good stead later in life,” said Manish Dalmia, whose son is in Class VII.
In several schools, students are encouraged to take up various activities since it’s not enough to excel in academics alone.
“The activities held in school are to develop other skills like how to organise and become independent…. These are things they are missing out on now. They are losing out on opportunities,” said Ireland.
Though schools have been conducting online sports day, teachers agree it is nothing compared to sweating it out on the field.
“Senior students take charge of the practice and are out on the ground. It teaches them leadership skills,” said Amita Prasad, director of Indus Valley World School.
She wondered how much they can learn by sending videos after individually shooting them for the online sports day.
Parents also feel that when students prepare their CVs to enrol in college, everyone will have the same achievements and there would be nothing much to differentiate one from the other.
John Bagul, principal of South City International School, said “public speaking skills do not develop sitting in front of the laptop”.
“It happens when there are 500 people in the audience and they can make eye contact,” said Bagul. “The psychological skills of learning to adapt and being flexible are not developing because of lack of physical activities.”