Delhi Government Schools conducted the first mega Parents-Teachers Meeting (PTM) after COVID to help parents understand the educational and emotional needs of their children in the post-COVID era.

The meetings were conducted in over 1,000 Delhi Government Schools.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia met the students and parents during the mega PTM in Delhi Government schools and said that this mega PTM was much-needed.

Sisodia said the schools were closed for almost two years due to the pandemic.

“This not only harmed the education of our children but also affected their ability to think, understand and be happy. Now, the need of the hour is to fix this together. Joint efforts by parents and teachers will help children cope with the post-pandemic situation better,” he added.

Sisodia said he was happy to see that a large number of parents took part in the mega PTM. During COVID lockdown, schools were shut and students were confined to their houses. Even teachers were meeting parents virtually most of the time. But in-person mega PTM was an opportunity where parents shared their concerns with teachers freely and without any hesitation.

“Our teachers are always available for parents to answer their queries related to their children and are working hard on bridging the competency gap caused due to the pandemic,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

A majority of parents’ queries revolved around social and emotional wellbeing of their wards, ways to plug in learning gaps and getting children’s studies back on track.

Mega PTM is part of a two-phase recovery plan of Delhi Government that aims to bridge the competency gap caused due to COVID, prepare students to acquire basic foundational literacy and skills and focus on emotional wellbeing of children.

Under this, Directorate of Education (DoE) has reduced the syllabus and is exclusively focusing on emotional and academic wellbeing of students through various activities in schools such as extended Happiness Classes, Mission Buniyaad Classes, surveys on learning levels, revision of previous worksheets, etc.

Schools are engaging with the community deeply to understand the situation of students and to track them back to schools.

Sisodia said the overall objective of this approach is to ensure that the learning gaps that occurred during the lockdown do not expand further. This will give an opportunity to students to rebuild their competencies and conceptual knowledge. Also, engagement in activities will help in reducing the anxiety and stress levels among students, he added.