With the 2020-2021 academic year likely to be delayed, the Department of Public Instruction has asked school managements to conduct a survey among students to get details of the electronic gadgets they have access to at home.
Department officials said this was being done to analyse which mode would be most easily accessible for students in case the need for online classes arises.
The department will collect the data from 1.04 crore students who are studying in classes 1 to 10. Sources in the department said the data of 46 lakh students has already been completed. So far, around 60% of the 46 lakh students for whom data entry is complete have reported that they have access to a smartphone and internet connection. About 94% have also reported to have access to radio and television.
K.G. Jagadeesha, Commissioner for Public Instruction, said some details to be collected from students include whether they have access to a smartphone, computer, television, laptops, tablets, or radio; if they have internet connection; if the students or parents have email addresses.
Available on SATS
The Deputy Directors of Public Instruction have been vested with the responsibility of ensuring that the details are made available on the Student Achievement Tracking System (SATS). All schools, private, aided and unaided, who follow both Central and State syllabus, have been asked to furnish these details. Mr. Jagadeesha said the data would give an idea of the gadgets that students have access to. “It will help us decide if whatever mode we are discussing will work for our context or not," he said.
Based on the survey, the department should rope in philanthropists and provide tablets or smartphones to students who do not have access to it, so that they don't miss out on e-learning.
Another official of the department said: “We are doing this exercise first so that we can see which e-learning mode best suits students. There is no point devising a learning activity without knowing the ground realities. Besides, understanding which medium will be most useful, we will also get to decide on whether the online classes if conducted will be synchronous or asynchronous.”
Mullahalli Suri, president of Parents’ Association, appreciated the move. “The department will most likely have to conduct online classes as even after the lockdown is lifted, social distancing may not work in schools,” he said.
‘No unnecessary online classes’
Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar has warned private schools to not conduct unnecessary online classes.
He has written to the Commissioner for Public Instruction asking him to issue necessary directions in this regard. He said that online classes should not be a burden for parents and students and that many private schools were exploiting students and conducting online classes for a long duration without keeping the attention span of the child in mind. The Minister said that classes need to be planned keeping in mind scientific basis as well as the adverse impact of a child’s health.
Many private schools conduct online classes even during summer holidays. While some schools have restricted the classes to extra curricular activities, many hold classes related to academics for a long duration. Students are denied the classes if parents have not paid online fees.
