SINNAR :
The Coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing lockdown has forced schools and colleges across India to temporarily shut and this unprecedented move had created a big gap in the education system despite the central and state government doing their best to provide support for e-learning and online education.
Several schools in the country are now starting to provide online classes to help students continue their education from the comfort of their homes. Here’s how the Rayat Shikshan Sanstha, considered as Asia’s largest educational condominium, is making it work.
Schools have been closed since last over a month period due to the lockdown. Students’ exams have also been cancelled. Citing the present situation, it is difficult to say when schools will reopen in the next session. Although some relaxations will be given by the government for schools, it will not be possible to teach students together in the school due to social distancing norms. As a result, students will have to face academic loss. To prevent this, Rayat Shikshan Sanstha has launched an online education initiative to enable students to study at home. Under the programme, the institute has designed an online curriculum and accordingly a daily schedule, for the students from Class I to Class X.
The institute has hired technology from various reputed software companies and prepared a PPT (PowerPoint Presentation) of each lesson with the help of its teachers. These teachers have developed about 15,000 PPTs as well as videos on diversified subjects. Apart from this, an independent knowledge bank has also been set up and made available to the students. The institute has trained 400 teachers on how to impart online education. These technically skilled teachers are now imparting training to thousands of its teachers across 450 branches of the institute.
All of these teachers have created WhatsApp groups of their students (including parents). The schedule of which subject is to be taught on which day is given on WhatsApp. If there is a problem, teachers and students will communicate with each other through mobile calls. Currently, this work has been started in some branches of the organisation and soon this facility will be extended to schools in remote areas also besides all the branches.
At present, practical examinations on specific subjects from Class Vth to Class Xth
are being conducted at all the branches, informed Dr Anil Patil, chairman, Rayat Shikshan Sanstha, through a press release.
The server of the institute has also been made available to the teachers so that they face no difficulty in teaching. Without just teaching the syllabus of that particular class, students are also been encouraged to go through scholarships, preparations for competitive exams through this online activity.
Students’ practical exams are also being conducted online. All this will help the students to improve their academic preparation even if the schools are closed. The benefits of all these educational activities are also available on the website of the institute for non-institutional students also. This is absolutely free and without any charges.
– Dr Anil Patil, chairman, Rayat Shikshan Sanstha
