Dr. Shayama Chona
President, Tamana Autism Centre — School of Hope, Delhi

Dr. Shayama Chona is the celebrated former principal of DPS, R.K. Puram, Delhi, where she served for 35 years (1978-2009) and founder-chairperson of the Tamana Foundation (estb.1992) which manages three Tamana special needs schools in Delhi with an enrolment of 500 students mentored by 43 teachers.

The past 15 months schools have been shuttered to check the spread of the pandemic. How successful has been the Tamana Schools’ adaptability to online learning?
It has been a very challenging period. In March 2020, we had a student strength of 500-plus. Since April 2020, when our special education and rehabilitation programmes moved online, only 211 children could access them. Poor Internet connectivity and lack of access to digital devices apart, it is difficult for special needs students to adapt to online learning as they don’t have long attention spans. They become restless and the majority need special support from caregivers to participate in online learning.

Moreover, because most Tamana children are from economically weaker sections of society, we are heavily reliant on fundraising events and donors to sustain our schools. The pandemic posed these additional challenges.

So how did you manage with the challenges of online learning?
Since April 2020, our special educators and therapists have been teaching online daily with teacher-student ratios of 1:3 and 1:1 respectively. Evening and remedial classes were also introduced. On the recommendation of researchers and psychologists, we have integrated story-telling and audio visual aids into our online classes to sustain students’ interest. In addition, our therapists provide children regular emotional support and counseling.

Nevertheless, online classes can never replace in-person campus education…
Visiting our centers daily was an important part of students’ lives without which they become prone to depression. Special needs children particularly need social interaction, collaborative learning and play to remain motivated.

Should schools be reopened now? Are your schools ready for physical classes?
The decision to re-open our centres will depend on government. Student safety is of course our top priority. We are routinely sensitising our parents and children about the benefits of early vaccination and Covid safety protocols.

Once on-campus classes begin, what are your remedial education plans?
In Tamana schools, there’s an Individualised Education Plan for every child supplemented with periodic progress reports. Remedial education in groups or one-to-one will also be individualised based on children’s needs once on-campus classes begin.

What is your advice to government to make up for the education loss suffered by special needs children?
Tamana teachers have successfully streamlined and adapted education and rehabilitation programmes for special needs children to the online mode. Our model can be scaled up and implemented countrywide.

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