Has digital rush neglected social skills?'

Despite the rapid transformation witnessed in teaching and learning processes since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a realisation among experts that the digital wave in the education sector has led to a dip in the level of the students' social skills due to the lack of classroom interaction during this period. An enlightening HT Dialogues webinar on Thursday focussed on online school education and its impact on students' social skills.It was attended by Dr Samir Parikh, director of mental health and behavioural sciences, Fortis Healthcare; Nita Arora, the principal of Sri Venkateshwar International School, Dwarka; Sandeepa Rai, the principal of Suncity School, Gurugram; Dimple Vij, counsellor at Laxman Public School, Hauz Khas and Bhawna Narang, whose child is enrolled at The Modern School, Kundli. Hindustan Times's health and science editor Sanchita Sharma moderated the session. Throughout the discussion, the stakeholders established that while online education is not adequate for a holistic development of social skills, schools and families can play a lead role in keeping children feel connected and engaged with their peers till the pandemic subsides.“Our immediate goal should be that the child needs to be happy and feel connected. They should also be involved in non-digital activities like attending to pets and plants,, playing board games and taking an active part in family activities because unplugging from digital interface is also important,” said Dr Parikh. Sandeepa Rai, the principal of Suncity School, Gurugram, said: “Online teaching is replete with opportunities for interaction, socialisation, and collaboration. The focus should be on how we encourage this. To facilitate this objective, the teaching module at our school has been re-engineered. We get to see and hear our children through the devices and teachers ensure active learning.”