BHUBANESWAR: During the uncertain times of lockdown, a visually-challenged teacher of Koraput is showing the way to the sighted. Putting technology to best use, 56-year-old History professor Kamakhi Das is utilising his ‘stay home’ days to record audio lectures for his students. He has prepared a series of 10,000 short questions and their answers on Indian history. With the help of his wife, he has been recording these questions and lectures on other topics as audio files.
In his tiny recording studio at home, he has been carrying out a mission on ‘inclusive’ education in times of the coronavirus outbreak as he circulates the recorded files among his students, including the visually-challenged ones, through Whatsapp. “These questions are based on the syllabus of UGC-sponsored Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) course. These will also help them prepare for various State and national-level competitive exams,” said Kamakhi, who heads the History Department at Koraput Government College.
Besides, the professor also shoots his lecture sessions at home using a smartphone to be shared with his students. “I am also teaching them online using Whatsapp video calls,” he claimed. The recordings are proving beneficial for his visually-challenged students, especially. “They neither have braille nor audio books. So, I am helping them learn using the recordings,” he added. Recipient of 1999 Indian Red Cross State Award and author of 18 books, Kamakhi feels the State Government must take initiatives to start online classes or provide audio books to the visually-challenged students.
Having faced difficulties himself while pursuing graduation from BJB College and Master’s from Utkal University, the teacher stresses the need to have an ‘inclusive’ education model even during crisis. Treating the lockdown as an opportunity, Kamakhi urges students not to sit idle during this period. “Why can’t you (students) make the best use of the abundant time at your disposal,” he advises. Along with his wife, he is also planning to record Bhagwat Gita as an audio book during the lockdown.