School education for 750 under-privileged children

We have a firm belief that schooling is not all about studying inside the educational curriculum, studying also includes learning new skills and new passions outside the curriculum. It also includes learning the art of being able to enjoy and simply be happy. Happiness, learning new skills and developing passions also play a vital part in a child's development and extracurricular activities are the main source to provide this vital element

We make sure that during this pandemic, our children at Al-Mustafa Academy have their hands on both educational as well as extracurricular activities. Following is a glimpse of activities during the past four months:

Operational Strategies of Educational Process:

We followed safety steps to keep students as safe as possible in school for continuing the educational process.

• Physical classes and precautionary steps

During the physical classes, the following precautionary steps were taken to control the covid-19 spread and to ensure that students and staff can stay healthy and physically together in school. 

1. Ensured adult students and staff vaccination.
2. Testing and screening of staff and students.
3. Proper use of masks and maintaining a physical distance.
4. A ban on nonessential visitors, volunteers, and other activities,
5. Staggered school arrival and drop-off timings, an alternate schedule of students and decreased class size.
6. Modified layouts, cleaning and disinfection of frequently touched surfaces.

• During the lockdown Operational strategies to continue the educational process.

Although most schools and educational institutions moved to online delivery of classes and evaluation to avoid the disruption of the educational process during the lockdown in this pandemic, the digital platform still remains unfamiliar for most people in a low-middle income zone. Dissemination of learning through a digital/online education would require internet access, laptop/computer and electronic gadgets for the students, which given the inequality amongst the socio-economic strata, remains unreachable for students belonging to low-income groups in underprivileged areas. In this challenging time period for continuity of schooling during the lockdown, we engaged the students with the help of assignments, projects and study packs.

• Annual Assessments & Examination.

 The ongoing situation that has emerged owing to the Covid-19 pandemic has created special challenges for educational institutions for the assessment and evaluation of students. In terms of methods to assessment & examination, the current situation was needed cogent beyond the conventional methods typically used. We followed and implemented all SOPs of Covid -19 during the examination which Government and the health department had developed. Health and safety measures were followed to ensure the continued well-being of Students and staff. We adopted the following non-conventional assessment methods and alternative forms of examination for evaluating students’ skills, knowledge, attitude and ability.

1. Assignments & projects
2. Class Presentation
3. MCQ’s based evaluation paper
4. One-on-One Oral Exam
5. Open Book Exam

Co-Curricular and Extra-Curricular Activities:

• Earth Day Celebrations

With an aim to save and protect the planet and environment, the students demonstrated the following activities on 22nd April 2021. 

• Reuse & Recycling activities
• Plantation
• Drawing/ Poster Competition
• Switching Off Lights
• Tableau/Role Play performance on global warming & save the Earth
• Walk & awareness campaign
• Documentary (The Inconvenient Truth) watched to educate students about Global Warming
• Students Project on Solid waste Management

• Cultural Diversity Day Celebration 

This day gives incredible reimbursements including humanity’s rich immaterial legacy and endorse our pledge to edifice a more peaceful world and build cultural awareness. Students learned about different cultures and differences in customs through demonstrations and acts. This consents them to interrelate in a larger range of social groups and feel more confident in themselves as well as in their connections with others.

 Students demonstrated the following activities on that day.

• Cultural posture Exhibition
• Cultural Dress show
• Enjoyed different Cultural Food
• Played Cultural Games
• Cultural/ Traditional Gifts Exchange

This was a summary of the past quarter, we will continue to send you more progress reports in the coming months. 

Hope you are doing good. As you know that the government has developed guidance and prevention strategies for schools. Evidence suggests that many schools that have strictly implemented prevention strategies have been able to safely open for in-person instruction and continued the educational process. The administration of Al-Mustafa Academy has developed and implemented the following strategies to protect the students, teachers and staff during the periods of in-person schooling. 

We followed public health efforts and strategies and delivered layers of COVID-19 protection in schools.

Operational strategies of the educational process.

Initially, Testing of all staff and students was done to identify individuals with infection to limit transmission and outbreaks.

Temperature Screening of staff and students was done with a device to detect the elevated body temperature associated with fevers caused by the coronavirus, thrice daily.

Correct use of masks- A policy to wear a mask was applied for all students, teachers and staff and ensured the use of masks throughout the school timings.

Physical distancing-Core principle for physical distancing has been established, furthermore, we have also implemented structural interventions to promote physical distance between students and teachers in classrooms.

Maintainance of 6 feet of distance in the following settings:

• Between adults (teachers and staff), and between adults and students, at all times withiin the school building.
• When masks cannot be worn, such as during intervals while eating.
• During activities when increased exhalation occurs, such as sports and exercise. Such activities are only allowed outdoors or in large, well-ventilated spaces.

Limited and stopped nonessential visitors, volunteers, activities and/or the involvement of external groups or organizations as much as possible.

Staggered scheduling: Staggered school arrival and drop-off times and put in place other protocols to limit contact, as well as direct contact with parents.

Alternate schedules fixed for students 3 days a week in alternate days and decrease class size and staff to promote physical distancing.

Modified layouts: Adjusted physical layouts in classrooms and other settings to maximize physical space, and re-organized desks to face in the same direction.

Cleaning:  Regular cleaning of frequently touched surfaces within the school multiple times a day (for example, playground equipment, door handles, sink handles, toilets, desks etc.).

Foodservice: All the food services such as in-house Canteen and drink stations were closed. Students, teachers and other staff were encouraged to bring food/water from home.

Shared objects: Discouraged and stopped sharing of items, particularly those that are difficult to clean. 

 As with everyone, children have been the most affected by this muted lifestyle and boredom was seen to be affecting their interest in studies as well. So, in order to keep them motivated and lift their spirits up, the school management organized some activities within the domain of Covid -19 SOPs. Following is the list of these activities:

1. Thematic Art competition between students.

2. World Children Day Celebration by students.

3. Allama Iqbal Day (National Poet of Pakistan)celebration.

4. Handicraft (embroidery and clay art) Activities.

5. World poetry day celebrated by students with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression.

This was all about the schooling during a pandemic, we sincerely hope that till the next report, everything will be resumed back to normal.