Khammam: Usage of cellphones has impacted education in primary schools of rural areas in a big way.
According to one estimate, a student loses five hours of learning in a week in the government schools because the teachers are busy with their cellphones.
Though there are restrictive orders by the government issued by education commissioner Vijay Kumar that do not allow teachers to use cellphones in class, many of the teachers ignore this directive and are happily chatting on their phones, WhattsApping their friends and watching videos in the classrooms, leaving the children on their own.
As it is, there is a shortage of teachers n the rural schools. With them spending more time on their phones than with the students, there is very little teaching and learning happening in the schools. The school in Dhyanavath Thanda in Khammam rural mandal is the best example of this. A teacher in a ZP school in Markodu under Allapalli mandal in Bhadradri district was suspended 10 days ago for talking on the phone in class.
P Bhaskar, a retired headmaster said that the supervision in primary schools located in remote villages is poor and the teachers engage themselves in such activities. “Teachers who use cell phones in classrooms should be suspended.”
To protect education”, N Bhadru Naik, a parent in the Dhyanavaththanda said, “There is no problem if they attend urgent calls, but many of the teachers talk about all issues—from how to make mango pickle to the Chandrayan success. Such behaviour of teachers should be curtailed”, he said.
