Sonu Kumar, a student of class 10 from the Chennai Public School, Kodungaiyur has his first class for the day at 9.30 a.m. and settles down in a quiet corner of his house, with a smartphone in his hand.
ADVERTISEMENT
He is one among the 4,890 students from Greater Chennai Corporation’s (GCC) schools who have been given smartphones to attend online classes during the lockdown. Students like him, who will be taking up the class 10 public exams next year, have teachers from their schools taking classes over Zoom every day, in at least two subjects.
“Apart from these Zoom classes, my classmates and I are on a WhatsApp group and we send photographs of our assignments on it, and receive feedback from our teacher,” Sonu said.
Schools have been shut in the state since March 17, and in the last two months, all eyes have been on exploring avenues related to online learning for students.
ADVERTISEMENT
To simplify access, the GCC has also started their own Youtube channel and has trained teachers in recording short video lessons. “We upload at least 4 lessons everyday and we want students of class 10 and 12 to have easy access to learning content,” said Grace Pachuau, Deputy Commissioner (Education). The channel has over 6,000 subscribers and 40 video lessons.
While students have been given the infrastructure, Ms. Pachuau said that they are working on addressing the connectivity aspect next, since at present, the onus is on students to produce internet connectivity. “We are looking to tie up with donors and companies to ensure that students are provided with internet connectivity as well,” she added.
Similar to the GCC’s initiative, a few organisations working with rural schools too, are taking to fundraising, creating infrastructure and accessible learning programs.
Nisha Subramaniam, co-founder, Kanavu which works with Assefa Foundation’s schools in rural Cuddalore, said that they were sourcing smartphones and laptops for their teachers and are setting up a recharge fund as well. “More than learning, for children, their schools, teachers and peers are a huge influence on their social and emotional well-being. We don’t want them to be deprived of access to this ecosystem just because they might be at a geographical disadvantage,” she said.
While the Chennai Corporation has addressed the first aspect of accessibility by being able to equip students with the infrastructure needed, challenges with regard to access and connectivity continue to persist in the State.
“There are around 10 lakh students now in class 10 who will have to take up the board exams next year and not all of them can be given smartphones. A majority of the students in rural areas have no access to connectivity so online learning is out of the question for us,” said Patric Raymond of the Tamil Nadu Graduate Teachers Federation.
Teachers from government schools like him said that they are hoping that the expert committee formed by the Tamil Nadu State government will consider these issues regarding access and ensure that the syllabus for the forthcoming academic year is trimmed.
A solution put forth by several teachers is for live classes to be broadcast on the Kalvi TV channel which they feel more students will have access to.
A teacher from a Corporation school in the city however noted that the buck does not stop with creating infrastructure or content alone. “My students mostly come from families where parents are daily wage earners, severely affected during the pandemic. We do not know what the situation is in these families and while we can provide gadgets and create content, teachers also need to ensure that the students have an atmosphere that supports learning and identifies challenges ahead,” she said.