Muktangan children shine, braving the Covid-19 pandemic

Time for top corporates to increase philanthropy budget

In spite of a crippling lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic shutting down businesses and educational institutes all over India, students of Muktangan, a Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation, performed extremely well in the Standard 10th Board examinations held this year.
 
Last year, of the top seven Municipal school students in the SSC examination, six were from Muktangan. This year, one of the joint MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai) toppers is a Muktangan student, and 11 students have scored more than 90 per cent.
 
Muktangan’s founder, Elizabeth Mehta, attributes the students’ success to the close teacher-student bonding which supports more meaningful learning for each of the students, all of whom come from local, underserved communities. “Due to the corona outbreak, in the new academic year, the students had to be prepared emotionally to accept and adjust to processes of digital learning, as well as to their new teachers,” she said. “This is just an example of how we coped with the situation and managed our students well. I am very proud of our students, not only for their success in their board exams, but also for their having become, along with their teachers, such unique individuals.”

 

Muktangan was set up in 2003 to help students obtain high-quality education from teachers selected from their own communities. Since then, it has trained over 900 community members as highly skilled, empathetic, inclusive educational practitioners. Of these, 568 are currently the entire staff of the seven English medium Mumbai municipal schools (KG to Std 10) it has set up and is running on behalf of the MCGM in Central Mumbai. The students in its schools, whatever their unique learning needs, develop into well-rounded, socially committed, thinking and questioning individuals with a global perspective, and excel academically.
 
To prepare students in the post-Covid era, the 2020-21 academic year began with teachers individually calling each student and their family to enquire about their well-being. This was followed by interactive online sessions by its socio-emotional department, which enabled students to share and express their feelings during the pandemic, thus helping them to overcome their anxieties. By maintaining the necessary social-distancing norms, the school team successfully distributed Municipal-funded textbooks to parents.

 
The schools then gathered data to check if each student had access to a smartphone for the smooth functioning of the online teaching process. The online teaching schedule for the secondary school is created in such a manner that students attend online teaching sessions of two subjects per day, for an hour each. This allows them access to each core subject twice every week. It also includes slots for teachers to correct students’ work, for follow-up with students, and the provision of feedback. The schools have created differentiated groups to cater to students’ individual academic needs. Lesson plans are tweaked depending on the level of students, to further enable their engagement. Standard-wise subject classrooms have been created using the Google Classroom app for the access of teaching learning material for teachers as well as students.

 
In virtual meetings, with guidance from department leaders, the teachers create lesson plans, videos, podcasts, Google slides and quizzes for their sessions. Teachers also share images or audio clips for giving instructions to students while posting assignments in groups. Videos are made to explain concepts, using concrete materials available in the surroundings. An instruction sheet for students is prepared based on lesson plans, enabling students to follow the sequence of the chapter. Summaries of lessons are shared through audio and video clips followed by written assignments to enhance the students’ listening and writing skills. Similar processes are followed with the students in lower standards.

 
“The idea behind all these efforts is to see that our students do not fall behind,” Mehta said.
 
Mehta, who has over 50 years of experience in education, said meaningful learning for both the student and the teacher depends upon the strength of the relationship between the two. A strong relationship is the greatest contributor. Children (and given the right environment, adult learners also) are, by their very nature, learners. “Our inherent curiosity leads us all to explore the world. Teachers who have a strong relationship with their students are in the best position to listen to and build upon each student’s emerging ideas,” she said.

 
In the coming months, she said, corporates must come forward to help such grassroots organisations with their CSR budgets during the Covid pandemic to ensure that the valuable work of Muktangan not only sustains but its impact continues to grow. “Corporate donors must come and see the good work we are doing and take a call. This model is helping both the teachers as well as students,” she said.