Govt teachers initiate smartphone donation drive to help needy students

Avneet Kaur

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Jalandhar, July 24

With a view to helping needy students who are deprived of digital learning due to the non-availability of smartphones, teachers of government schools in the district have started a special smartphone donation drive, urging NRIs, industrialists and influential people to come forward and support their education.

As the present unprecedented crisis has forced the schools to go for digital education, the students belonging to less privileged sections of society are unable to avail of the facility of online education either due to lack of smartphones or not being in a position to afford data pack.

Scores of reports highlighting the plight of poor parents who are struggling to purchase smartphones for their wards have come to the fore in the past few months. Teachers say that as they are aware of the fact that not everyone can own a smartphone, the drive has been started with the aim of helping such parents as are being forced to sell their essential commodities or household equipment to buy a smartphone.

Divulging details about the drive, Chander Shekhar, District Mentor (DM), English and Social Studies, said, “We have prepared a list of students who do not have a smartphone. Teachers have been working for this noble cause in all blocks. They are urging different NGOs, organisations and even NRIs to donate new or even old smartphones to students or pay for their data packs,” he said.

District Mentor Science Harjit Bawa, who has been leading the drive from the front and visiting NRIs to seek donations, said recently Surinder Kumar Puri, head master, Government High School, Dyalpur, mobilised donation from US-based NRI philanthropist Dalwinder Kaur and on the request of teachers she donated 10 smart phones.

“The smart phones were further handed over to the students at their doorstep by me, District Education Officer (Secondary) Harinderpal Singh and Deputy DEO Rajiv Joshi,” he added.

Similarly, Anita Chawla, social science mistress, Government Senior Secondary School, Kariha (Nawanshahr), said when she started taking virtual classes via Skype, she faced the problem of many students not being able to afford a data pack. “I then discussed the problem with my husband, Sham Lal, who is a maths tutor. After thinking much, he gathered the guts to talk to people in our circle of friends and luckily one of my husband’s friends immediately offered to contribute towards this noble cause. He has been paying for the net pack of eight to 10 students for the last two months,” she added.

When contacted, DEO (Secondary) Harinderpal Singh said the district Education Department was getting a good response from people from all walks of life for this noble cause. “We have a school management committee for every school, the principals of such schools with the help of the sarpanches of respective villages are apprising NRIs and other people of the non-availability of smartphones with students. Therefore, understanding the gravity of the situation and problems of parents who cannot afford phones, people are coming forward,” he added.