Jharkhand School Principal Used Loudspeakers To Teach Students With No Internet Access
Shyam Kishore Singh Gandhi, the headmaster of a school in Jharkhand put up several loudspeakers across the Bankathi village and held classes. The students sit near the loudspeakers which have been put up on trees and walls at different locations and attend the classes. ¡°
While most parts of the country have opened up in the 'unlock' phase, educational institutions are still shut owing to risks. Due to this, kids who come from less privileged backgrounds have found it extremely difficult to keep up with studies. Even as students in cities and towns across the country attend classes online, rural areas continue to grapple with the new system due to unsteady connectivity and lack of devices such as smartphones and computers.
Image For Representation/Pixy.org
To address this issue of making classes accessible for kids, a principal from Jharkhand has come up with an innovative solution. According to reports, the teacher named Shyam Kishore Singh Gandhi, the headmaster of Bankathi Middle School, put up several loudspeakers across the school where classes are held for two hours every day, since April 16.
The students sit near the loudspeakers which have been put up on trees and walls at different locations, and attend the classes. ¡°Louder speakers are put up where the number of students is more. Five teachers and two para teachers teach over the mike from the classroom," Gandhi said.
"Thousands of schools and colleges across India have switched to online as classrooms remain shut since mid-March amid the coronavirus outbreak. There are 246 students from class 1 to class 8, and 204 of them do not have mobile phones,¡± Gandhi told PTI.
Also Read: Hyderabad Residents Pool Money To Buy Smartphones, Help Underprivileged Kids With Online Classes
He said the classes start at 10 am daily. ¡°If the students have any doubt or want to ask any question, they can send their queries to me from anyone¡¯s mobile phone and we explain it the next day,¡± he added
Image For Representation/The Hindu
Gandhi said the model is working and students are receptive and enjoying the new style of studying.
Here's how people praised his initiative:
#1
As they say - If there is a will, there is a way. Possibly the best use of a public address system.
¡ª Singh (@Indiason1) June 26, 2020
#2
"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity &
¡ª SirishaRao (@SirishaRao17) June 26, 2020
The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty " ..so true!
Head Master of a school in Jharkhand set up loudspeakers to teach his students,beating the odds of online learning.
Yes,where there is a will, there is a WAY? https://t.co/wMaRAZ0L3O
#3
Innovation ¡ªLearning and understanding lessons over loudspeakers is easy says -students . A village school of #Dumka #jharkhand pic.twitter.com/oe5EXQ4Oaz
¡ª Nisha rai (@nisharai_ggc) June 25, 2020
#4
Rural India is a powerhouse of innovation. It converts adversity into opportunity
¡ª Alok K N Mishra TOI (@AlokKNMishraTOI) June 25, 2020
A Jharkhand school is using loudspeakers to make distance learning possible without smartphones
204 out of 246 students don't have access to smartphone#ThursdayThoughtshttps://t.co/YzC8R1j310 pic.twitter.com/BZwcZhQ711
Lauding the headmaster, Dumka's district education officer Poonam Kumari, said all the 2,317 government schools here should emulate the model so that the students would not have to struggle to complete the syllabus once the lockdown is lifted.
"The effort is praiseworthy and all the schools in Dumka district should follow this idea in the interest of the students," Kumari said, adding that she will soon visit the school and the village to learn about the teaching method.
Ever since schools transitioned into the online distant learning format, many who couldn't afford the facility ended up taking drastic steps. There were several reports of suicides among students over not being able to attend online classes.
One such incident was of a class nine student setting herself on fire in Valancherry in Kerala earlier this month, for not being able to attend online classes as she did not have a smartphone, and the television in her house was not working.
Thanks to a few kind-hearted people, like the Jharkhand principle above, a lot of kids are getting equal access to education, amid the pandemic.
All Inputs PTI
