NUAPADA: In a bid to overcome the challenges posed by poor connectivity and lack of access to smartphones, the district education wing has launched the ‘Sikhya Samprukti’ initiative under which teachers will personally visit students residing in villages and conduct physical classes with strict adherence to Covid guidelines.
The initiative is part of the administration’s efforts to ensure inclusion of all students in digital learning. A majority of the students in Nuapada are not able to attend live classes on YouTube due to lack of access to smartphones and network issues.
There are 888 primary schools in the district with a total student strength of 81,327. Similarly, there are 145 high schools with 27,824 students. As per the official data, only around 25,000 students, which is 22 per cent of the total number, are able to attend the YouTube live classes and the rest have been deprived of digital learning due to various reasons.
District education officer (DEO) Sudhansu Sekhar Mishra said while connectivity is a common problem in several blocks of Nuapada, lack of resources is hindering students from attending classes on the digital platform. “We have decided to conduct offline classes at their nearest points to ensure that students left out of the online classes could continue their learning. The process to identify such students is underway,” he informed.
Reportedly, the department is currently conducting survey to identify students having no access to smartphones, TVs or any e-learning resource. Subsequently, a cluster of students will be formed in different villages and a teacher assigned to each group. The teacher will visit the students to conduct classes following Covid guidelines. The classes will be conducted from 11 am to 1 pm and 10-15 students will be taught at a time. This apart, teachers will personally reach out to students and assign them tasks. Initially, the focus is to cover students from Class 1 to 8, Mishra said.
The DEO further said, “We will start with offline teaching first. Later, we will arrange revision of the e-content that is being taught through YouTube classes for such students. Though all precautions are being taken, the initiative will be put on hold if the Covid situation worsens.” On Thursday, the offline class started for the first time in Salebhata village attended by 15 students. Nuapada Collector Swadha Dev Singh visited the village to review the progress of the initiative.