Kathmandu: Prasanna, a fifth-grader at a Biratnagar-based school, used to participate actively in Extracurricular Activities (ECAs). He was particularly interested in anchoring and dancing. He was also a regular presence in other activities like quiz and spelling competitions. That was when he used to go to school physically.
But since the last one and a half years, he hasn’t been able to participate in any of the ECA activities, after the classes went online due to the pandemic.
“I miss participating in all those ECA activities that used to happen in my school,” says Prasanna. “Participating in ECA activities used to make me feel happy and excited.”
His plans of joining the Karate classes at his school have also been dashed due to the pandemic.
“Regular classes without any extra activities are boring,” Prasanna laments.
After the school teaching migrated online, many students like Prasanna haven’t been able to partake in ECA activities.
Earlier, the schools used to have clubs like music club, dance club, and paint club but now all of them are discontinued. The schools are either unable to conduct them virtually or are indifferent towards them.
Ajar, a tenth grader at a Lalitpur-based school, shares Prasanna’s lamentation.
“I used to actively participate in basketball and other extra activities such as music and painting previously but now as the school does not conduct those activities I miss attending them,” says Ajar.
Like Prasanna, Ajar also feels “bored and uninspired” after being disconnected from extracurricular activities.
Studies suggest that the ECAs or co-curricular activities are equally important as regular classes. They play a significant role in the development of a balanced personality in students. They are also directly proportional to the student’s physical and mental health.
Some other studies show that participation in ECAs positively affects the students’ GPA; those who participated in ECA have higher GPAs than those who did not.
Despite the challenges posed by online mediums to run extra activities, however, some schools are managing to conduct it frequently.
Mental health experts say that ECA activities are much more important than regular academic classes. They say bookish knowledge alone could not help in the holistic development of the children.
Unlike Prasanna and Ajar, Aryan, a fourth-grader at a Kathmandu-based school, is able to participate in various ECAs virtually. His school frequently conducts ECAs, but to varying degrees of success. Aryan finds them comparatively less effective than the physical classes.
“Although I am involved in various ECA activities virtually, it does not work productively on me as it used to during in-person classes,” says Aryan. “I badly miss all those ECA classes and outdoor sports.”
Aryan’s mother Meera also feels that the online ECA classes activities are not as effective as the physical ones.
“The school has been doing its best to ensure that the kids get ECA as much as possible through virtual classes,” she says. “But they are not as effective as physical classes.” Aryan struggles to give proper attention to the virtual ECA classes, she adds.
Saran Chaulagain, principal at Shankar National English Secondary School, says that despite various challenges, his school is frequently conducting different ECA classes virtually. “As the ECA classes refresh students, help in exploring their creativity, and energize them, we are trying our best to conduct several ECAs through virtual mediums,” says Chaulagain.
The school has virtually conducted extracurricular activities such as singing competitions, dance competitions, and debate competitions during the pandemic. Chaulagain believes they all are fairly effective. But for Chaulagain it is challenging and unproductive to organize activities like quizzes and spelling competitions because students can immediately answer the questions by searching on the internet in the absence of the judges’ supervision.
Mental health experts say that ECA activities are much more important than regular academic classes. They say bookish knowledge alone could not help in the holistic development of the children.
According to Psychologist Gopal Dhakal, the ineffectiveness and lack of ECA activities can hamper students physically and mentally. It bars them from developing social relations, language, discipline, creative power, and many other essential aspects.
Naturally, the schools are facing a lot of challenges in conducting extra activities of late. As an alternative, Dhakal suggests parents help their children to make their children’s time productive and creative.
“Parents can assign their child to cook, clean rooms, and do other household chores. Similarly, they can also ask and help the children to paint, write poems and other creative acts,” says Dhakal. “Doing so can help children become fit, engaged and creative.”
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