Survey to assess COVID-19 impact on Delhi govt school children soon

New Delhi: The Delhi government will soon commission a study to assess the impact on the mental health and emotional well-being of students due to the closure of schools, COVID-19 and the shift towards online education, officials said on Saturday. Schools in Delhi were closed following lockdown in March 2020 and were opened this month.

The planning department of the Delhi government on Friday issued a request for proposal (RFQ) to hire a suitable agency to conduct the study covering government school students, parents and teachers.

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“The study is designed to assess the emotional well-being and mental health of all types of students, boys and girls, from different classes, age groups, social and economic backgrounds, which will provide an insight into how students from different backgrounds responded, adapted and handled the effects of COVID-19,” the document stated.

As many as 44.80 lakh students had enrolled in Delhi schools during 2020-21. A total of 8,400 students, 1,680 parents and 1,680 teachers will be surveyed for schools across 28 zones in Delhi, it said.

The sample data of students, teachers and parents will be provided by the government. The study will be conducted for students of Class 1 to 12 as well as parents and teachers through personal interview from all 28 education zones of Delhi. Separate questionnaires have been designed for each group of students by the Directorate of Education in consultation with the planning department.

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The questionnaires for teachers and parents have been designed irrespective of groups. The selected agency will require to form survey teams of minimum 30 surveyors with each completing 15 surveys per day in a span of 30 days, including buffer period, to cover the selected students, parents and teachers, the document said.

As per the RFQ, an agreement with the agency selected through bidding will be signed by March 21 and field work of survey will be wrapped up by April 29. The data collected digitally will be compiled and analysed and a draft report will be submitted to the government by May 17. The final report of the study will be submitted by May 27, according to the document.