Ekta Sodha CEO, Cadmus Sodha Group of Schools, Jamnagar An education postgraduate of Newcastle University, UK, Ekta Sodha is the Jamnagar (Gujarat)-based CEO of the Cadmus Sodha Group of Schools, a chain of five affordable K-X schools in Gujarat with an aggregate enrolment of 5,500 students and 550 faculty. How satisfied are you with the Cadmus schools’ switch to the online mode of learning over the past year? The education sector is the third worst-hit after the hospitality and entertainment industries. The entire education ecosystem is battling grave challenges such as lack of digital devices, poor Internet connectivity, digitally illiterate teachers, the list is long. We have invested hundreds of man hours in training our teachers in online technologies. An additional challenge for affordable schools such as ours was to train parents and students to adapt to our remote learning model. What are the major measures you took to ensure learning continuity of children against the backdrop of lack of digital devices/poor Internet connectivity/fees waivers order by government, etc? Cadmus schools are low-price affordable institutions. Anticipating problems such as lack of technological infrastructure, Internet outages, and parents’ inability to pay full fees, we designed a remote learning model which is cost-effective and easily managed. Our model combines instruction on Zoom and WhatsApp with students able to attend live classes on Zoom as well as listen to recorded lectures and access notes and assignments on WhatsApp. On the issue of tuition fees regulation during the pandemic, the 25 percent fees waiver order of the Gujarat government has made the survival of private budget schools very difficult. The essence of budget private schools is minuscule profit margins. According to one estimate, more than 2,000 private schools in Gujarat are on the verge of shutting down and/or desperate to sell out. Should schools be reopened now? Are your schools ready for in-person classes? After the first wave of the pandemic, schools did reopen for about two months with no major Covid outbreaks reported. Medical evidence suggests that children are least vulnerable to the Covid virus. Therefore, it’s high time to reopen schools to prevent irreparable educational, economical and psychological damage to children. All Cadmus schools have instituted strict health and safety measures to check the spread of Covid-19. What are your plans for managing future pandemic disruptions? Whether we like it or not, new pandemics are inevitable. The silver lining is that the initial reluctance of teachers, students and parents to accept remote learning pedagogies has vanished. Post-pandemic, we believe that a blended/hybrid learning model is here to stay. This will connect the learning experience of Gen Z with the real world and most important, make them less susceptible to future disruptions. For the full Cover Story: 30 Eduleaders weathering covid tsunami Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp
