The changed circumstances have put the entire onus on parents if their child has to participate in school activities.

They now have to ensure that they find time to get their child do the rehearsals, arrange the costumes and the props. And also have be adept at video recording with “just the right amount of light”.

Earlier, parents would be happy to give their consent for their child to participate and all that they had to do was take half a day off to be present to see their child on stage or on field.

But now, it means finding time every day to get their child ready for the final show and then shoot it after many takes to get that one “perfect recording”, which has met all parameters set by the school.

Teachers send out detailed instructions and for parents the challenge is to find a bare wall as background to record the child in action or a 10ft floor length that can be used as a track for a sporting event.

And the teacher does not miss the details.

The parents of a child in Class V girl made a video of her dancing. The costume was right, so was the dance and the background but the teacher noticed that the girl’s feet were brushing against the carpet, which was impacting her movement. “Since it was a competitive event for an inter-school fest the teacher felt the girl would lose points and the parents had to reshoot,” said the head of the school.

A father who works in a private firm had to take off so that his daughter in Class II could participate in a school sporting event.

“She had to blow a paper tea cup placed 4ft from the start point. She had to run to the cup and blow it while the teacher was recording the time since it was a competitive event,” he said.

“It was over in 30 seconds or more but I had to set up the laptop at the right angle and we had to wait for an hour for her turn because there were other participants also. But I was happy to do it because she was so excited,” said Y. Goel, who took a couple of hours off from work while his wife was busy at work.

Schools too agree that events have become “parent dependent”.

“So many schools are organising online fests but for the school to participate we have to depend on parents’ cooperation. Parents have to invest a lot of time. Some of them are in a difficult circumstance if someone is ailing at home or they have other pressing commitments,” said Amita Prasad, the director of Indus Valley World School.

Several school heads agreed that parental consent has become very significance under the circumstances. “We cannot involve all children even if we want to because the parents have to agree to video record and send it to us. Earlier, we would do an audition for an event but now it is more dependent on parents’ involvement,” said Nupur Ghosh, the vice-principal of Mahadevi Birla World Academy.

Ghosh said teachers send out detailed instructions and sometimes retakes are needed to get the perfect shot.

“For a jumping event, the camera has to show the legs and has to be at a certain angle and from a certain range,” said Ghosh.

A mother, whose six-year-old daughter played the role of a fairy in a school concert, said she shot the video seven-eight times or “maybe more” and sent it to the teacher.

“Sometimes, the prop is not placed properly or the light is not right. The teacher told me to do the rehearsal at a time when she was free so that she could guide me,” said the mother.

In some cases, the classroom competition has taken a different dimension. More than the children the parents have become competitive, agreed some parents.

“When you see other mothers being able to do it, you feel why can’t I do it,” said R. Singh, a mother whose daughter is in Class II.

While parents are sweating it out in between work from home and work at home, schools have also become less demanding than before.

“Earlier, we would have specific requirements but now we understand that it is not easy for parents to arrange for costumes. So, we tell them to make do with what they have at home,” said a head.

Rashmi Dixit had dressed her son, who is in upper nursery, as a sheep for an event, said it made her more “involved”. “Parents would prepare the children for fancy dress and not really see how they were doing. Now, they are part of the entire thing,” said Suvina Shunglu, the principal of Sri Sri Academy.