Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Mar 26 : Dhirubhai Amb International School (DAIS) on Thursday announced to have started live online classes for the students amid the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The live online classes will run through video conferencing on online meeting platforms. The attendance of the students will also be marked online.
Microsoft Teams are being used as the platform to conduct classes and Reliance's Jio is being used for the bandwidth and connectivity. The platform is also being used by teachers for collaboration and planning amongst each other.
Nita Amb owned school will also use the Whiteboard Platform to conduct online classes. The online live teaching commenced on Thursday with a full day schedule for students of Classes 10 and 12.
As a preparation for the online classes, the school has converted all the classroom material into the online format to make it suitable for online teaching and also trained its teachers on the medium over the last few days.
All the training and preparatory work was done online with teachers working from their homes.
In an opening message to school children, their parents and grandparents, Nita Amb, the founder and chairperson of the school, said that while it is the beginning of a new academic term for the school, it is being done keeping in mind the unprecedented situation brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic, with health and safety of everyone being the prime priority.
She informed that with the cancellation of international board exams and lockdowns in 138 countries, more than a billion children or nearly 80 per cent of learners were impacted and that DAIS was equally concerned about the overall well-being of the students.
"As our nation goes into the 21-day complete lockdown, it is important for everyone to be extra cautious and careful. Stay at home. Stay healthy. And most importantly, stay calm. At DAIS, we are committed to the holistic well-being of all our children," said Amb.
"More than ever before now is a time for us to instill hope, resilience, and courage in our children. To help them deal with uncertainties and teach them how to keep moving forward even in tough times. While our campus remains closed, DAIS is commencing live teaching through our virtual school platform so that our children get the DAIS experience and education in the safety of their homes," she added.
The founder of the school also sent out a message for the children enrolled in the school and said, "my dearest children, all of us miss you at school, but nothing is more important for us than your safety, your health, and your well-being."
"Remember that your teachers, your friends, and the entire DAIS family is always with you. We will win this fight, and good times will be upon us again," she further assured the children in the impassioned, heartfelt message.
In addition to conducting classes, the school has also scheduled online parent-teachers meetings (PTM) of those classes, which were pending or were postponed earlier as a precaution against COVID-19 related issues.
This comes two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, which has affected at least 694 people till date in India.
( With inputs from ANI )