The gaps in online mode of learning were exposed on the first day of the new academic year on Monday after a survey revealed that as many as 13,032 schoolchildren in Ernakulam did not have access to smart phone or television.
Enrolment
They have been enrolled in classes 1 to 12 in government, aided and unaided streams and figure among the approximately 2.5 to 3 lakh schoolchildren in the State without the necessary facilities at their homes to access e-content, according to the Ernakulam wing of Samagra Shiksha, Kerala, under the General Education Department.
“We hope to provide them with access to either television or the Internet within a week. The Education Department has sought the co-operation of elected representatives, local bodies, and voluntary organisations to arrange the facilities required,” said Usha Manatt, District Project Co-ordinator, Samagra Shiksha, Kerala.
CPI(M) offers help
The Piravom mandalam committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] was among the organisations that extended support for setting up the facilities and enabling children to get access to online classes on Victers channel.
600 students to benefit
“We have made arrangements to provide the facilities to nearly 600 students at Piravom, Koothattukulam, and Thripunithura,” said Shaju Jacob, secretary, CPI(M) Piravom mandalam committee.
