Page 78 - Tata-Trusts-Annual-Report-2021-22
P. 78
OF
HOPE
Using physical literacy to plug pandemic-forced
well-being gaps among children
For about 4,000 children spread across some of the remotest The videos were shared with the parents of the school children
mountain communities of Uttarakhand, coping with the forced living in these communities, who supervised their children’s
isolation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic was particularly physical literacy sessions, often sharing videos and pictures of
di cult. Trekking to school up and down winding mountain the same with the wider community and group administrators.
pathways with their friends-cum-schoolmates was one of the The initiative resulted in a marked improvement in participants’
few pleasures a orded by their daily routine. A routine that was physical and mental well-being.
suddenly disrupted, causing further anxiety and depression as
“All the children in my village would eagerly await the physical
the pandemic wore on with no end in sight.
literacy videos sent by Himmotthan every Thursday. Whenever
But even as it upended life globally over the course of the last we used to get bored studying at home by ourselves, we would
two years, the pandemic has also reinforced the importance of watch these videos for entertainment and to exercise to boost
physical activity as a coping mechanism and to ensure mental our immunity,” says Harshita Pujari, a Class 5 student from GPS
and physical well-being. Pandemic- necessitated lockdowns Ginti Gaon in Kotabag of Nainital district.
have not only disrupted economic and social life; its impacts are
With schools slowly reopening, in April 2021, HMS shifted the
especially evident in the emotional and psychological toll it has
emphasis from online sessions to in-person physical literacy
taken on school-going children.
sessions conducted in schools. The initiative has been identified
Education and social interaction are crucial to the overall as a major outcome of quality education programming, with
development of younger children, who are still in their formative HMS successfully integrating the concept of physical literacy
years. Both were deeply impacted by the pandemic, prompting into school lessons and classrooms. Till date, it has broadcast 75
Tata Trusts’ associate organisation—Himmotthan Society (HMS), physical literacy session on various social
which works among rural mountain communities—to undertake media platforms, along with 38
holistic programmes, to promote physical literacy as a coping snapshot videos.
tool for school children sequestered at home.
For the 2022-2025 academic years,
HMS worked with 115 community institutions, comprising 85 HMS plans to integrate physical
school management committees, 15 Mata Samitis (committees literacy with foundational literacy
comprising of mothers) and 15 Bal Sangathans (children groups) and numeracy in 300 schools of four blocks
spread across 100 villages in five districts to implement the of Uttarakhand. It will also aim to train 300
project. It shot multiple physical literacy videos with the help of government school teachers and about
various stakeholders. HMS field teams worked with the Samagra 13,000 children.
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and its associates to share these videos
every Thursday morning on social media apps that were popular
Children taking part in a physical
at a local level. literacy session in the Agastyamuni
block of Rudraprayag
71