Kolkata: Medical experts and speech therapists have reported the use of masks among kindergarten and pre-primary children. They say that in addition to being unhealthy, mask use affects the development of speech and social skills in young children.
According to clinical psychologist Parmeet Soni, one of the most notable impacts of the pandemic is the delay in speech development in preschool children.
“Children as young as four years old spent most of their time online during the pandemic. Therefore, there was a lack of significant organic interactions,” he said.
City-based kindergartens say they expected learning time would need to increase in the post-Covid period to combat the lack of social interaction for two years.
“Our children and our teachers attend classes with masks. To overcome communication problems, we try to repeat the lessons 7-8 times,” said the manager of the Santoshpur branch of the Eurokids nursery chain.
The head of the center at the Jheel Road branch of Zeekids said they had to strike a balance between respecting the government’s mask mandate and keeping their children safe and comfortable. “If a child is uncomfortable, we don’t force them to keep their mask on,” he said.
Rachayita Mondal, a teacher at Mongrace Montessori, pointed out that learning outcomes are delayed when children wear masks.
“We try to ensure that children are masked and practice social distancing during transport to and from school. At school, they are not asked to wear masks and neither are the teachers. They can learn words and facial expressions better without the masks. Additionally, research shows that masks are not particularly healthy for young children,” she said.
According to clinical psychologist Parmeet Soni, one of the most notable impacts of the pandemic is the delay in speech development in preschool children.
“Children as young as four years old spent most of their time online during the pandemic. Therefore, there was a lack of significant organic interactions,” he said.
City-based kindergartens say they expected learning time would need to increase in the post-Covid period to combat the lack of social interaction for two years.
“Our children and our teachers attend classes with masks. To overcome communication problems, we try to repeat the lessons 7-8 times,” said the manager of the Santoshpur branch of the Eurokids nursery chain.
The head of the center at the Jheel Road branch of Zeekids said they had to strike a balance between respecting the government’s mask mandate and keeping their children safe and comfortable. “If a child is uncomfortable, we don’t force them to keep their mask on,” he said.
Rachayita Mondal, a teacher at Mongrace Montessori, pointed out that learning outcomes are delayed when children wear masks.
“We try to ensure that children are masked and practice social distancing during transport to and from school. At school, they are not asked to wear masks and neither are the teachers. They can learn words and facial expressions better without the masks. Additionally, research shows that masks are not particularly healthy for young children,” she said.
