SAMBALPUR: When Tankadhar Padhan, headmaster of Lebdi Government High School in Sohela, went an extra mile to ensure uninterrupted classes to his students during the lockdown, little did he know that his efforts would result in his school becoming the first in the district to get smart classes. The students of Classes IX and X are now availing a new learning experience through the audio-visual medium for the past one week.
Padhan’s unfailing dedication in providing academic guidance to his students personally during the tough times of Covid-19 was featured in TNIE on Oct 11. Soon his story was shared widely across social media platforms, resulting in people from all across, including alumni of the school, offering their support for the development of the school.
“While I received appreciation from guardians, towards the end of October, I got a call from Bhetghat Society in Pune. They had got the story via WhatsApp and were interested to help me with development of school. I shared my idea of setting up a smart class for the students of Class IX and X and the society provided a financial support of Rs 28,500 for the smart classroom,” he says.
Later, teachers also decided to contribute their bit to Padhan’s vision and they collected around Rs 1 lakh for setting up the classrooms. Besides, the school also started receiving support from alumni through Mo School Abhijan. With the financial help, the school decided to set up two smart classrooms. Subsequently, projectors and sound systems were purchased.
The contents for smart teaching were also developed by the teachers. “As per the syllabus, we downloaded contents from internet and added more information to it. Since most of the content were in Hindi and English, teachers added voice over in Odia to help students understand better,” Padhan explains. It took two months from December to make things ready. Once government gave its nod, smart classes started at the high school from February 8.
Padhan says the classrooms have received great response. “Attendance of students has increased significantly after smart classes have started. The children are finding it exciting and their classroom participation has improved. Teachers also find it convenient to explain topics through audio visual contents.” Padhan wants to develop smart classrooms for all the classes of the school and hopes to fulfill the dream soon.