Hyderabad: Only 10 per cent of students in government primary schools have been accessing the Vidya Mitra YouTube channel since January 8. It is an initiative by government school teachers and the Siddipet district education officer. Most of the remaining students were unable to access lessons despite having a smartphone.
Many students with access to smartphones are not able to make use of the platform as their parents are daily-wage workers and return home after the children are fast asleep. The parents cannot afford another smartphone or get drunk and abuse their children and refuse to give phones, said Priya Reddy (name changed), a government school teacher from Siddipet district. She added that the government is not addressing the intricacies of the issue and efficient teaching via the TSAT platform is not possible.
"Worksheets and follow ups are a must for students, especially in a pandemic situation where education is taken for granted by all stakeholders," she added.
When teachers try to reach out to these parents, they are unresponsive and hurl abuses. “Even during physical classes, parents nit-pick small details and have an issue with buying new books and mid-day meal services,” added Priya.
Vidya Mitra is the only other platform after TSAT, set up by teachers who record 15-minute lessons for students from classes 1-5 and also prepare a worksheet for the students, she said.
Some teachers, who were selected by the DEO, helped prepare video lessons and worksheets. There are subject-wise teachers and most of the important lessons are covered in Siddipet district, said another government teacher who contributes for Vidya Mitra Channel. She added that there are three levels under this programme. Level one has students of classes 1 and 2, level 2 for students from class 3 and level 3 has students from classes 4 and 5. The channel was established in April 2021.
DC also spoke to other teachers from government and private schools who said that because of the pandemic, those who have smartphones and TV are not letting other students access these facilities. “Around 36, 440 students in high schools do not have access to smartphones, according to the report released by the school education department. Out of 7,19,385 students of classes 8 to 10, only around three 3 lakh accessed digital lessons through DD, TSAT and other TV channels whereas around one lakh students used smartphones, laptops and computers for digital education. Teachers have questioned the learning outcomes of those left behind due to such pandemic-induced barriers to education."
