As classrooms go online, underprivileged students fail to log on

Teachers of municipal schools are struggling to bring their students up to date with the new norm of digital learning

Waiting for a leap from blackboard to computer

Perpetually short on amenities and equipment, municipal schools are now facing another dilemma of how to conduct online classes. On March15, when educational institutions were asked to shut down in view of Covid-19, the HRD ministry had also issued an advisory to schools- to switch to online classrooms and encourage students to watch educational series on Doordarshan and other OTT platforms.

March to May is the period of final exams and extra classes, especially for students who go into class X and XII. Though school exams were deferred, extra tuitions for students who will appear for Board exams in 2021 are essential.

Effortless for elite

For elite CBSE, ICSE and state board schools, the switch to online teaching has been effortless. Both the teachers and students are equipped with devices like laptops, tabs and smart phones, to handle the change. Classes on hangouts like Zoom have ensured that there is no break in teaching. The private coaching institutes too have switched to digital mode.

Struggling to figure out means and methods are municipal schools. Students here come for economically backward homes. Forget digital devices, even electricity and internet connectivity are an issue both in school and at home.

Lack of smart phones

The struggle begins with trying to convince parents to buy at least a smart phone for the child so that she can be a part of online education. Most parents work as domestic helps or work on piecemeal basis as electricians, plumbers, cooks or gardeners. If at all there is a smart phone in the house, it remains with the parent who gets work related calls on it. It can’t be spared or left behind with the child.

Trying to catch up with the change, the teachers in municipal schools are now devising methods to keep the students academically engaged even with sparse means. The teachers have used phone numbers of parents to form whatsapp groups on which assignments are being posted. The students are required to copy it down in notebooks, work them and send photos of the same. Since the phone remains with the parent, Sheela Athilkar, principal of one such schools in Nagpur has instructed her staff to send the assignments early so that the child can make notes before the parent leaves the house.

Summer coaching

At another school the principal Sandhya Madpalliwar got videos made of lessons in science and math which were forwarded to students on the whatsapp group. The response was not very good as videos are long and take time to download. Parents don’t allow this as it also exhausts the data in their phones. Besides only 42 children from the 57 in the class could be part of the group. The rest had no access to a smart phone. An enterprising science teacher also tried to hold a class on Zoom but only two students could come online. “We hold classes throughout the summer vacations as these students can’t afford private coaching. And if they won’t come to school they will take up temporary jobs and will miss out on studies,” fears Sandhya Madpalliwar

First generation learners

For those students studying in residential schools in remote areas, the situation is even more precarious. They do not have access to computers, smart phones and even television. The long vacation means getting totally out of touch with studies. Most of them are first generation learners and if they are not going to school then they are engaged in farm work or have to tend animals, says Samiksha Amte who looks after the residential school run by Lok Biradari Prakalp at Bhamragad in Gadhchiroli district of Maharashtra. Large gaps between vacation and school increases their chances of forgetting what has been taught so far and requires that much more effort to make them learn again feels Samiksha.

Municipal schools receive generous donations of stationary, notebooks and other teaching tools. Maybe, for the large hearted philanthrope it wouldn’t be a big deal if now laptops, tablets or smart phones can be given as teaching aides to help these needy students to cope with the new norm.