Kannur: Like many aspects of life, education too has been impacted severely by the COVID-19 pandemic. As institutions cope with curbs and shutdowns, teachers set aside their routine tasks and innovate to impart education. Robin Joseph, a social science teacher of the St Thomas High School at Iritty in Kannur, is busy even during the current lockdown owing to the virulent disease.
He travels to the houses of 47 Class X students every weekend to conduct tests for assessing their learning from virtual classes. The teacher decided to conduct the exams after noticing that not all students were focussing on the virtual classes.
Instead of asking students to step out, the teacher decided to deliver the question papers to their homes while following the COVID-19 protocol.
Parents have been tasked to oversee the exams held on Saturdays and Sundays.
The students live within 25km radius of the school.
Based on the questions shared by his colleagues, Robin prepares the question paper for each subject. He takes printouts and puts them in sealed covers. He then drives over to the students’ houses in his own car to deliver the sealed covers on Fridays. He also gives instructions to the parents on conducting the test while handing over the question papers to them.
Four exams are held in a week. Exams are held from 4pm to 5.30pm on Saturdays and 11am to 12:30pm on Sundays.
The sealed cover should be opened only five minutes before the exam. Parents have to put the answer sheets in the cover and seal it soon after the exam. Robin will visit each house by Sunday afternoon and collect the answer sheets.
He segregates these and delivers the answer sheets to other teachers at their homes on Monday. The teachers will evaluate the test and pass on the results to Robin via WhatsApp. Based on this, Robin prepares a rank list of students and sends it to the parents. He also visits the houses of students, with low scores in the exam, to understand their problems. Students, who do not have enough facilities for learning at home, will be helped by the PTA.
Robin has to shell out Rs 5,000 every week for printing and travelling expenses.
