Make sure that Online education is not hampered in these Covid times… 

June 1 marks the beginning of a new academic year in the state. Amidst the anxieties created by the Covid epidemic, children are being coerced to study at home, as they were asked to do last year. It is a great achievement that the vast majority are able to adapt to new learning methods. However, the new system is not enough to provide the stimulus that the school environment provides to children. Moreover, the biggest limitation of online classes is the lack of opportunity for direct dialogue between teachers and children. In the present situation there is no other way but children should try to make maximum use of the facilities available.

There are very few children in the state who do not have any smart phones, computers and TVs required for online classes. Therefore, the Department of Education will be able to actively promote the new learning method. However, a section of children belonging to the weaker sections of the society are still worried about not being able to own the equipment. We need to be able to find such people and bring them into the mainstream. Power outages can also disrupt classes for children who have to rely solely on TV. Thus, ways should be found to help children who are missing classes. At the beginning of the online study, many children were worried about not getting the learning materials. Now it seems there is no such situation. Yet it has not completely ok. The society should come forward to help such people.

Education Minister Sivankutty's response to an eighth standard student during a phone-in event the other day is a good example. The house of Joseph Donwas also flooded and everything, including the phone, was destroyed in the severe sea attack in Chellanam. Don expressed his grief at the minister's phone-in event. Immediately, the minister, through the Kochi MLA, delivered a new smartphone to the child's home. Like this, one can see many other children who are worried that they will have to miss class due to not having a phone. This is very easy to solve if local bodies, people's representatives, mayors and organizations come forward. No child's learning should be hampered by lack of learning materials. In this time of crisis, society must ensure that.