All weekdays at 2 pm sharp in Adelaide, Australia, siblings Arya, a class 9 student, and Ayaan, a class 2 student, log into their school. They sing their prayers, do yoga exercises, complete their study periods before logging off at 5 pm. Despite getting Permanent Residency (PR) status this year, the duo continues their studies online in an Ahmedabad school.
Their father, Paresh Bharatiya, an aero engineering specialist, explained that till the local school offers online education, he and his wife have decided not to take admission for the kids in an Australian school. “Standard of education in primary and secondary schools is higher in India,” said Bharatiya, justifying his decision.
The pandemic witnessed many Indian students enrolled in foreign universities completing degrees from home in India. Inversely, many school children with families living abroad are managing time zone differences and logging into city schools from home in Australia, Sweden, Africa, UK, Dubai, US to name a few countries.
Dubai-based sisters Disha (14) and Mahi (9) are studying in Zebar International School for Children. Father Gopal Sachanandani told TOI he is settled in Dubai since 1996 and planned to relocate to India.
“We took school admission for the girls on March 20 last year and days later lockdown happened. Once flights opened up, we decided to stay in Dubai till the pandemic settles as the health infrastructure here is better. But as Indian schooling is good, we continued with online education,” said Gopal Sachanandani.
Gopal Sachanandani said that Dubai has already vaccinated 12 years-plus children. “Once my younger daughter gets the vaccine, we plan to shift to India when Covid settles,” he added. He said the girls have to log into school at 6.30 am but they do not mind it much. They send exam papers and assignments through courier. School also gives them extra classes.
School authorities say that there are many children who are studying online from various countries post Covid-19. “Some children were travelling to be with their parents when Covid travel restrictions grounded them,” said Manan Choksi, trustee of Udgam School.
SGVP International School principal Padma Kumar said that seven students from her school are studying online from abroad. “Majority students are from African countries and Dubai. The students do not face many problems as the time difference is only two and a half hours. We are hopeful that most of these students will return to campus by December,” she said.
Sharmistha Sinha, principal, Zebar School said they have five students studying from abroad. “Conflicting time zones is the biggest challenge faced by these students while submission of examination answer scripts becomes difficult and time-consuming. But we extend all possible cooperation,” said Sinha.
