Parent-Teacher Meetings (PTMs) have resumed in some schools in the UAE following the resumption of in-person internal exams, ensuring social distancing is followed within the school premises.
Headteachers observed that the country’s robust vaccination drive has boosted confidence in the education sector.
The head of one school in Dubai stated that the challenge of the Covid-19 was being met head-on with Parent-Teacher meetings being conducted on-site at the school campus on May 27, 2021, just as it was held before the pandemic.
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The community was being made aware about Covid-19 restrictions nearing closure and parents viewing opening of schools as normal while still operating with social distancing and safety in place, the school head said while also highlighting the school’s emphasis on care for the students’ wellbeing.
“What we do know is that student wellbeing extends to both the academic performance and the social needs of our young people in equal part to the physical safety requirements, the school head said, adding that this was one step in a series of forward steps aimed at getting the communities’ lives back to a new normal.
However, some schools have provided parents the option to choose between onsite and online parent-teacher conferences. “While we have given parents the option of having face-to-face (social-distanced with masks) meetings with our vaccinated staff or choosing to have online meetings, most parents chose online meetings as a matter of convcenience,” said Sarah O’Regan, Principal/CEO at GEMS Wellington Academy – Silicon Oasis.
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Meanwhile, other institutions have chosen to hold physical parent-teacher conferences for select students that require greater attention and parental involvement.
“We are conducting in-person PTMs with 10-15 per cent of our students’ parents because the level of empathy and positive body language that can be conveyed at such meetings cannot be witnessed at virtual meetings,” said Arogya Reddy, Principal at the Ambassador School in Sharjah.
She added that parents invited to the school are those whose children require greater care including students with learning disabilities, those who appear to be constantly distracted during online class or have kept the camera off and are unresponsive despite repeated reminders.
