The winter season of sports, concerts and outdoor activities in schools is helping students return to the pre-pandemic normal, said teachers in several schools.
It is helping “ease the stress” that the past two years had created. That stress had manifested even in classrooms through indiscipline and “sometimes obstinacy”, said teachers.
In most schools, December-January is a time for outdoor activities and teachers are noticing a gradual change in the behaviour of children.
They have become more disciplined, are showing respect towards teachers and are far less aggressive than before.
Some schools reopened in February and many in April, 2022, but there were disruptions and almost no outdoor activities.
Children took some months to regain familiarity with the school set-up. Rigorous inter- and intra-school activities began much later.
“Outdoor activities and sports give a healthy outlet to students’ energy. They learn to be more disciplined, which gets reflected in classrooms and their overall personality,” said Amita Prasad, director, Indus Valley World School.
Initially, children were getting exhausted in one period of physical training but gradually, their stamina improved. In one school, a drill display had 1,500 children on the field together. “Initially, it was going awry. But then, eventually, there was complete coordination. It teaches them important things like how to stand in line, when to move and it develops their concentration that shows in classrooms and in their work,” said Madhumita Seal, vice principal, BDM International.
The relaxation of Covid rules helped. For several months, children and their teachers were behind masks when they met.
“There was fear in the minds of children. As they participated more in co-curricular activities, it helped ease some of the stress. They are free with each other now and have regained their confidence as well,” said Terence John, principal, Julien Day School Kalyani.
John said the students had become more “respectful” of their teachers, which had been missing for a long period.
“Online classes ensured that the syllabus was being completed but the other things suffered hugely during the last two years,” a teacher said.
John said during the two years of online classes, there were students who took up music and have done extremely well.
It is not merely going up on stage and singing, but the also the training and the overall experience of performing in front of an audience that creates a difference for the students, said a teacher.
Many of these activities were earlier taken for granted but the two years of online school helped children and schools value them more.
Real interaction with friends and returning to familiar activities is helping the students return to normal and do what was expected of them, said many teachers.
“They learn to share and work in groups only when they are together. Being on the field gives them several opportunities for that,” said Sunita Sen, principal, The BSS School.