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Folowing protest by parents, Greenwood High school assures resumption of live online classes

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Bengaluru, Oct 24: The Karnataka Government had recently stated that schools will be allowed to conduct classes both in the online as well as offline mode. However at the Greenwood High school, Sarjapur, the parents had raised objections with the decision of the school to conduct online classes through recorded sessions. However after a lengthy meeting of the parents and teachers, the school management confirmed that all steps will be taken to ensure that live online classes re-commence.

Following gritty protest by parents, Greenwood High school says steps will be taken to re-commence live online

On Saturday, scores of parents had assembled outside the school to protest the decision. Some of the parents met with the principal, Aloysious D'Mello and held discussions about the issue. During the meeting with the principal, the Parent representatives of GWH parents group led by Satish, Neha, Ranjeet and Divya objected to the unilateral decision taken by the principal and management to abruptly terminate the live online sessions and instead force online students to learn only through recorded sessions from October 20. Not only is the recorded session an ineffective mode of learning, the abrupt and authoritative manner in which the decision was made without any consultation with the parents is unacceptable to the parents, they said.

The parents who had gathered there to discuss the issue were initially denied permission to enter the school premises for a considerable amount time. The security personnel gave them trivial reasons to deny them entry, the parents alleged, while adding that this was uncalled for and reinforces the view that the GWH management wishes to distance itself from children and parents.

When the meeting finally took place, the parents said that the teachers are picking on online students or ignoring online students and not being receptive to their questions. Request from parents is for GWH management(including teachers and administration) to provide equality and fairness in all ways possible to both offline and online students, the parents told the principal. The parents also said that there was insufficient communication and lack of consultative approach by the school and specifically the principal with respect to the hybrid model of teaching.

Following gritty protest by parents, Greenwood High school says steps will be taken to re-commence live online classes

The parents requested that the school have a formal process where the emails from parents are by GWH management.

The parents also spoke to a media personnel present at the site about what transpired in the past week and what they had experienced. The parents say that they had to resort to such action due to the lack of communication by the school.

At the meeting, the principal too raised certain issues and said that the parents sending insulting mails to the principal another staff members shoed lack of respect and decorum. He also said that such interference is disrupting the flow of classes. The influx of mails from the parents had resulted in frustration among teachers and some of them had even resigned. He also expressed disappointment that the parents had gone to the media on the issue.

The parents present at the meeting reiterated that the parents abusing the staff and sending nasty mails must not be tolerated. However at the same time those parents have been decent and understanding must not suffer due to the actions of a few, they pointed out. In addition such incidents, while completely unacceptable, cannot justify unilateral decisions by GWH that have significant impact on the students, the parents said.

The parents also said that there is a trust deficit between the school and parents and this needed to be addressed by the principal. The parents are equally responsible for this and will reciprocate, the parents said. Further during the discussion, it was decided that a clear policy would be formulated on how abusive parents will be handled. The parents however pointed that errant teachers too must be acted upon. The principal however said that in some cases, this had already been done.

Following gritty protest by parents, Greenwood High school says steps will be taken to re-commence live online

The principal said that he had instructed the teachers to mute the microphone of the child whose parents interfere, sit in or do say anything defamatory in nature to the teachers. The offending participant may also be removed from the meeting, the principal said. The parents who met with the principal said that they require better communication from the principal or someone who is assigned to respond to them. The parents while pointing out that lack of communication only worsens the issue said that they had asked for regular feedback sessions once a quarter. On the exam front, the principal said that its would be offline and at school for both IGCSE and ICSE. Further instructions are awaited on this topic.

Next steps:

The parents informed that as per the communication received from the principal, hybrid model with online classes and offline classes will commence from Monday 25th October. The principal also said he would address the all the students and teachers about the concerns raised over the past one week. The principal also requested patience from both the parents and students on the issue in order to iron out teething problems. Meanwhile he also asked the parents to write to the IT department about the specific technical issues being faced during online class.
The principal also sought for a feedback from well meaning parents on the progress of online classes starting from Monday. The principal said that he would take a decision and action on parents who continue to be abusive over email during classes, The parents requested the management to bring such incidents to the notice of all other parents and request the management to define and execute strict policies to deter such behaviour. The school management has confirmed to the parents through email that all appropriate steps will be taken to ensure that live online classes re-commence.

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