For online test, teachers visit homes of poor kids to help them

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 22

The Government Middle School, Mundi Cholian, Lohian block, has a total 131 students and 30 of them are residents of Dhakka Basti, a village 3 km away from the school. Of the 30, only five have smartphones. The Punjab Achievement Survey was started on September 21 and most of the students of the village couldn’t take the online test on the first day.

The village is situated near the Sutlej and most of the residents are involved in menial jobs. Being aware of the financial constraints of these families, the head teacher of the school, Kulwinder Singh, visited the village today along with other teachers and ensured that every student took the test.

This isn’t the story of this village only. As many as 50 students in the school come from Madala Channa village and many of them are without mobile phones. The head teacher had also gone to Madala Channa on Monday. Since yesterday, the teachers of rural areas have been visiting the students who don’t have phones and are giving them their own mobiles to complete the test.

In Dhakka Basti village, the teachers formed groups where the student having phones helped others. The teachers gave their own phones to the students so that they didn’t miss the test. “When you have students who come from far-off villages where people hardly have any access to technology, taking exams online is not a cakewalk,” the head teacher said. He called the students at one place and made them sit at a distance and then monitored them while they took the exam. “They were having trouble using the technology and we helped them,” he said.

Deepak Prakash, head teacher of Government Primary School, Madala Channa, is also doing the same. A total of 84 students study in the school and 40 per cent of them don’t have smartphones. Prakash said he visited every student’s house so that all of them could take the exam. “It is a painstaking task at this point, but still, I understand my duty and will work for the students. I along with two other teachers have been visiting the homes and helping each of them to login on their accounts and take the exam,” he said.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.