Shirley Pillai
Principal, Powai English High School
Shirley Pillai is principal of the Powai English High School, Mumbai (PEHS, estb.1978), a Maharashtra state board-affiliated private unaided K-10 school, with an enrolment of 2,100 students.
To what extent have you maintained the learning continuity of PEHS children during the past 15 months of the pandemic?
Our teachers put in extraordinary efforts to learn to conduct online classes on platforms such as Zoom and GoogleMeet. Not just for academics but also for online music, dance and dramatics.
Many of our students are from low-income households. Therefore, Internet connectivity and lack of digital devices are common problems. In many families, children can access only one smartphone for education. We planned our online class timetable bearing these factors in mind. Teachers recorded their lectures and shared them through WhatsApp. We also scheduled different timings for primary and secondary online classes. Those unable to attend virtual classes were advised to learn from recorded videos and connect with teachers on Saturdays to clear doubts.
Many parents suffered job loss and were unable to pay school fees. How did you deal with this financial emergency?
As a private unaided school, we are wholly dependent on tuition and other fees revenue to pay our 125 teachers and staff. But parents who lost their jobs were unable to pay their children’s fees even after we reduced them by 15 percent. This has hit our finances badly. We were obliged to reduce teachers’ salaries by 50 percent to save the situation.
It’s gut-wrenching to demand that parents pay children’s school fees when they are in dire straits. That’s when I initiated our ‘Fee-sponsorship for needy pandemic-affected students of Powai English High School’ initiative. Our local community newspaper — Planet Powai — published our appeal for funds which received good response. The plea also went viral on social media.
Soon financial help starting pouring in from corporates, benevolent individuals, local NGOs and the Senior Citizens Group residing in the Raheja complex. By May 2021, we had collected Rs.40 lakh which was allocated towards payment of fees of 200 students for the academic year 2020-21. For academic year 2021-22, we have collected Rs.80 lakh, way beyond my expectation. This kindness and compassion has reaffirmed my faith in humanity.
What are your plans to deal with future pandemic disruptions?
We will continue our fund-raising efforts to pay our children’s fees as many of our parents are still struggling with financial problems caused by second-wave lockdowns. Meanwhile, we will continue to improve online programmes and remedy children’s learning gaps.
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