Balancing Academics with Entertainment

The apprehension parents feel for their child’s education is very obvious. There are so many questions and doubts, especially during these times where so much of the child's academics depend on the parents. There are doubts regarding the break time; its effects on their academics; how to deal with lack of concentration and so much more.

To answer these commonly asked questions on this subject we staged an informative panel session with an experienced and reputed panel consisting of:

• Ms. Minni Adhikari; Vice Principal, Primus Public School
• Ms. Archana Shrivastava; Principal, East Point School
• Ms. Shefali Charan; Principal, Asian World School
• Ms. Debasree Chakraborty; Principal, Mothers Mission School
• Ms. Yogita Kapil; Principal, Delhi Public School 

Q. People believe that leisure activities and breaks hamper a student's performance. What are your views on this?

As Minni ma'am stated that the attention span of a human is only 8 seconds, it becomes difficult for students to sit and concentrate for 40 to 45 minutes continuously. 

The teachers in her school teach the students for 15 to 20 minutes and then engage them in some leisure activities like storytelling that make lessons interesting. 

Archana ma'am agrees and affirms that organized leisure teaching activities certainly increase the productivity of the students and are very necessary.

Q. Exams and study pressure often lead to declining mental health. How should a student manage and prioritize mental health along with studies?

Every other student we come across, no matter what age group, deals with mental health issues, mostly because of their academic pressure. This is an unacknowledged issue that needs to be paid attention to by both parents and teachers.

Mini ma'am and Archana ma'am emphasized how the parents play an important role in maintaining the child's mental health, especially during these times. They urge parents to understand their child and set realistic goals for them, stop over-expecting, and start listening to them. 

Students are advised to talk to their parents and open up to their teachers about anything bothering them. 

Q. Most of our productivity during the pandemic has stemmed from e-resources. This has to lead to many parents asking questions on how to judge an online learning platform accurately. What advice do you have for them?

Since the pandemic has taken over, educational institutions have shut down which has led to a huge rise in the demand for digital learning platforms. But not everything on the internet is trustworthy & reliable. Hence choosing an online learning platform needs a thorough assessment. Debasree ma'am very well mentioned several aspects that must be checked while judging an online platform like:

• If it operates well in a remote area with low internet speed.
• If the content is genuine and supports different modes like audio, video, and text.
• If the facility of live classes is available or not.
• If the educator can teach properly or not.
• If the classes are fun and not tedious.

Furthermore, Minni ma'am and Shefali ma'am appreciated how these platforms are of great help during this pandemic. They have made it easy for the parents to interact with teachers by saving their time and being convenient. 

Minni ma'am gave us a very beneficial suggestion for judging these platforms by stating how her school authorities regularly ask for these platforms' feedback from both parents and students.

Q. After taking a break from studies it gets very hard to sit back and regain focus. Can you suggest a few hacks that can help students stuck in this rut?

Almost every human has a problem in regaining focus after taking a break from some activity like studying or working. It becomes quite demotivating at times and affects the productivity of the students. 

However, we couldn't agree more when Shefali ma'am stated that it is no doubt a common problem but the fact that studying is important must be instilled in the students' minds. They must be made to understand the importance of studying in their lives.

Yogita ma'am further talked about a teacher in her school who tried to make his history classes interesting for the students by trying to dress up like the characters he was teaching. 

Here are a few tips from Debasree ma'am for the same:

• Children must be provided a more compatible device to study like laptops instead of mobile phones.
• They must be provided with a calm and quiet surrounding to study in.
• Their study place must be well organized. It helps in concentrating better.
• Students must avoid attending to phones and social media notifications while studying.

Careerwill is a great example of a learning platform that exceeds in all the above-mentioned parameters. They help students everywhere, whether rural or urban, to prepare for competitive government exams and address the academic concerns of the K-12 bracket.

Q. What role can parents play in achieving this balance between academics and entertainment?

Throughout the session, our panel members emphasized several times that parents play a huge role in their child's development and mental health. They must be approachable, understanding, and communicative. Parents must not overburden their kids with their wishes and ambitions.

Shefali ma'am talked about a survey in which students from various countries were asked about what they want and while other students stated that they want to be happy, Indian students wanted their parents to be happy. This reflects the limitations given to the ambitions of children by their parents. The importance of parents spending quality and quantity time with their kids was mentioned by Yogita ma'am. She advised parents to not compare, scold and demean their kids unnecessarily and try to appreciate every little skill they have. 

Everyone deserves to be happy. Parents must guide their children and not force them into any activity. They must communicate and encourage them in every genuine ambition of theirs.

Since the need for genuine digital learning platforms have risen incredibly, knowing about Careerwill is a must! 

• They offer courses for SSC, Banking, UPSC, State PCS, and many other competitive government examinations. 
   
• The success of the test prep encouraged Careerwill to launch 'Careerwill Online School'
   
• Under the guidance of Rakesh Yadav Sir and the team, their students have attained remarkable results. 
   
• All their mentors have more than 10 years of experience in this field and have been teaching from the hub of education i.e. Mukherjee Nagar
   
• Besides their general courses, they also offer free courses and lectures for several selective subjects.
   
• They offer courses at a very reasonable fee structure.
   
• They have an easy-to-download app and contacting them with any queries is very easy.
   
• Their primary aim is to make every student capable of learning from the best educators.