Spotlight - Aap Kaise Hai?

On 3 January this year, a group of 14 Grade 10 students came back to campus to focus on their upcoming IGCSE Hindi Board examinations taking place on 11 and 18 February. Upon returning to campus, the group remained in quarantine for 7 days, before joining the on-campus staff community as boarding students and taking part of campus life.
 
On Monday the 8 February, TISB opens its gates again for a larger group of students from Grades 9 and 11. Some of the students will be joining as day students, commuting to and from school on a daily basis, and some as boarders living on campus.

But what is it like being back to physical school after such a long period of being at home and attending school through distance learning?  We met up with three of the Grade 10 Hindi students, Ananya, Brinda and Shravan, to hear about their experience of returning to school and life in boarding. 

Being away from physical school for almost a year, distance learning and studying has been a great responsibility on students themselves.  Sitting behind a screen and with the whole World Wide Web at their fingertips has been a challenge for some. Coming back to school and being in a classroom environment, has been a very positive shift for the Grade 10 Hindi students, and their focus and learning. “Here I have a fixed schedule and fixed times for everything, so it helps me be more organised, and I know what I have to do and when I have to do it. So it is really helping me, and I am pretty sure my grades are going to get higher being in school”, says Ananya, who when at home felt like she used to put more time into entertainment than into studying. 

Limits to the school Wi-Fi has made all of the students more focused. “Because a lot of the things are blocked, and when you’re in class you can’t really open YouTube and watch it side-by-side – which is usually what ends up happening when at home”, says Brinda who is from Surat in Gujarat and has previously been a boarding student at TISB.  Being able to meet and have lessons in person with teachers is important, as it is different to having online sessions on a computer screen.  Having face-to-face time with their Hindi teacher has been a great support for the students.  “For Hindi lessons, coming back to the face-to-face environment has been really helpful – especially with the teacher, Ms Kalpana. She has been helping a lot, providing personal feedback that you can’t really do online”, says Shravan, who’s family is based in Bangalore but feels that coming back to campus has been a great help for all these students.

Having the opportunity to build personal relationships with people in real life, has also been a positive outcome for the students. “You get to build up a closer bond with your teachers. I think I have spoken more to Ms Moumita and Ms Fiona. I’m building a better relationship to my dorm teachers as well, and I think that’s important”, says Brinda who appreciates the close relationships she has been able to form with a small and tightly knit community of people on campus.  For all the students, a major positive aspect of being back in physical school has been being able to see their friends again.  “It’s been a year since we’ve seen each other.  And just being back together again – being with your people, back in your habitat – it is like we are back where we actually belong”, says Ananya who was a boarder before the pandemic, and sees school and life on campus as her home away from home.  “Coming back and actually meeting people; meeting my teachers, meeting my friends, meeting the staff – that’s really helped me maintain some kind of personal relationships with people that are really important, one of the things that went away during the pandemic”, says Shravan, who enjoyed the barbecue that was arranged by Dr Caroline at the start of the New Year. 

Being in boarding is something that has greatly helped the students.  Having a structure and a routine, along with the campus grounds and facilities has been a great addition to school life.  “It definitely has been really, really, good and it has helped from the study aspect, because of golden hour and everything”, says Shravan, who normally is a day student at TISB and appreciates the organised nature of boarding.  After school the boarders have an opportunity to have a snack and take some exercise before golden hour and dinner time.  Towards the end of the week life in boarding is a bit more relaxed, but still gives opportunity for studying.  “We get to go to the Library on weekends if we want to study, so that is one big benefit”, says Shravan.  “Friday nights are movie nights pretty much, so it is fun that way”, says Brinda who along with her classmates thinks this is a well-deserved break while studying for their upcoming Hindi Board exams. 

Ananya thinks that the boarders who have yet to return, should do so and return to the way that things were last year.  “Let this COVID-19 phase just leave us, and come back to your habitat”, she says.  Besides their parents and family, there are a few things that the boarding Hindi students are missing, including food, as the food is different from home, and it’s difficult for school canteen food to compete with a mother’s home cooked meal – although they do a very good job trying!