In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Education Department has launched Vidyagama, a continuous learning plan for children.
A release from the department said that every child will be covered under this learning plan, which also promotes self-learning in children. Special attention will be given to out-of-school and specially abled children, while food materials of the midday meal scheme will be sent to the homes of government and aided schoolchildren.
Under the plan, every school must form a virtual class with 20-25 students and appoint a mentor. Based on the geographical area of their residences, children should be grouped from classes 1-5 as one group, 6-8 as another, and 8-10 as yet another. Parents and children will be guided to continue their self-learning at home making use of the learning materials provided.
The release added that a class-wise and subject-wise ‘Annual Programme of Work’ had been prepared to ensure uniformity in schools across the State and uploaded in the KTBS and DSERT websites ( www.ktbs.kar.nic.in and www.dsert.kar.nic.in ). Children should be grouped in different categories — those without any type of technology-based gadgets, including mobile phones, those with mobiles but no Internet access, and those with computers/tabs/smart phones with Internet access.
Mentors will be required to visit homes of children in their neighbourhood as many times as possible in a week to monitor their progress in learning and co-curricular activities. These meetings may be conducted in community centres, religious places, under the shade of any big tree appropriately following the norms of social distancing strictly.
Volunteers, non-governmental organisations, any educated youth in that neighbourhood may be identified. They may, under the guidance of the mentor, teach children in their neighbourhood.
A survey found that 90% of children have TV in their homes. Following this, “Samveda” – a TV based learning programme has been designed as part of the “Vidyagama” programme.
