We-learning?

Teachers, parents, students, and policymakers... all are students in a digital classroom, grappling with multiple challenges to sustain the education sector in the country.
An inhouse studio has been set up to telecast classes through Kalvi TV, a government-owned television channel | R SATISH BABU
An inhouse studio has been set up to telecast classes through Kalvi TV, a government-owned television channel | R SATISH BABU

Neatly ironed uniforms, heavy school bags, chatter and laughter – gone are the days when teaching was confined within the four walls of a classroom. Thanks to the pandemic the classrooms are now at fingertips, at least for those who can afford it. Necessity may, indeed, be the mother of invention, but in the case of digital education many complain that the necessary ingredients for this transition are not within their reach.

Tech divide

Digital education comes at a cost – one separate from the regular cost of education. It requires high-speed internet, a smartphone or laptop, and technical know-how. While even affluent families are struggling with the concepts and expenses of this new requirement, how will those who cannot afford, or do not understand these systems, cope up? The government is trying to do its bit. It’s uploading recorded video lessons on its channel ‘Kalvi TV’ and on free laptops being given to students. It still is not an easy task. Take for instance the case of students in Tiruvannamalai. As per statistics, in the tribal hamlets of Jawadhu Hills there are 650 students in class 12 and around 1,000 in class 10.

“Forget 3G or 4G, most of them do not even have a TV at home,” says social activist Mahalakshmi. “Only about 25 per cent of students here have access to TV.” Which means, even lessons broadcast over the Kalvi TV may not reach these students. Last week, all government school teachers were asked to inform class 12 students that they could come over to the campus and download video lessons on their free laptops. Since then, teachers are struggling to get in touch with their students. While some students do not have phones, many have changed their numbers during the lockdown, the teachers lament. “Whenever I call students, their parents answer the phone.

Many of them are labourers working at brick kilns or as wood cutters. They do not understand why we are calling their children to school. So students collected the text books but did not bring their laptops,” said a government school physics teacher working at Thiruvarur. In many other cases, the families have already sold off the free laptops to tide through patches of distress. In Chennai’s Ritchie Street, the going rate of the government-issued free laptops is Rs 2,000. “Since last Thursday, students have been arriving to get lessons copied on their free laptops.

While most of them come to us saying their laptops are broken and have been given for fixing, in reality, many of them have already sold their gadgets,” says T Arulanandham, State Treasury of TN High and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teachers’ Association. Rojaram and M Shivaranjini of Madurai have their laptops with them, but they don’t find the time to sit down and study as they are busy helping their parents tide through the lockdown. “I have a mother and sister to support,” says Rojaram, speaking to TNIE. “My mom used to work as a domestic help.

She was asked not to come to work when the pandemic began. Now, I supply newspapers in the town to support my family. With my meagre income, we are struggling to pay for rent and food. I hope the teacher revise all these portions once schools reopen.” Shivaranjini works now in a fancy store. “My father lost his job. Our family is struggling financially, so I took up this job. I now get Rs 6,000 per month and this will help us tide through this situation for now. I have already downloaded all the lessons on to my laptop, but finding time to read them is the problem.” Virtual learning can never be a substitute for classroom-based education, says PB Prince Gajendra Babu, General Secretary of the State Platform for Common School System.

“That is because in India most families cannot afford the gadgets required for e-learning.” “Think about all those villages that lack basic electricity connections. Those that face frequent power cuts. What would students in those areas do?” KPO Suresh, the State Secretary of Tamil Nadu Post Graduate Teachers’ Association, echoes the same sentiments. “Nearly 60 per cent government school students in the State are from rural areas. A televised learning approach can add to the pressure of their parents,” he says. “The government thinks all students have a cable connection at their homes, but sadly, that’s not true. Although free TVs were given away back in 2006, many of the families sold them off soon

Drained

For those who can afford these classes, too, challenges are way too many. “My daughter, studying in class 3, is not showing as much interest in online classes as she would for regular ones,” says V Naveen, a parent from Chennai. “She has classes for about four hours every day. She gets very tired by the end of it. At times, she just dozes off. Personally, I feel the timing of e-classes must be reduced to bring down the pressure on young students.” K Vani, another parent, says her son starts playing video games in between classes. “I am not satisfied with these classes, because we again have to teach them after this. We need to keep monitoring them all the time.

ILLUSTRATION: TAPAS RANJAN
ILLUSTRATION: TAPAS RANJAN

As a result, our work gets affected.” The Ministry of Human Resource Development recently released guidelines on online education in schools. It recommended that schools can conduct two sessions of 30-45 minutes each for Classes 1 to 8, and four sessions of 30-45 minutes each for Classes 9 to 12. But following the government norms while also managing to cover the portions, is a challenge the school managements and teachers will have to overcome. “Students are finding it hard to cope with e-learning. It is not a concept they are used to,” says Boopathy, a government school teacher from Karur. “Students can do screen time for like an hour or two.

But, some schools have classes going on for over four hours straight. The eye irritation and mental pressure can be tremendous,” adds Boopathy. “Also, there is no two way conversation here. It is only the teachers who keep lecturing from one end, and students are unable to ask doubts.” “How do I guide them continuously through the classes,” wonders S Sukirtha, mother of two. “A few subjects, yes, I can manage. But now, they have even stopped trying to clear their doubts.” So, how do schools continue with online classes without burdening the students and parents way too much? Experts do not have too many solutions to the tech divide, except for a major infrastructure upgrade.

But in the case of screen time, there are several suggestions that teachers and parents can follow. N Rahman Khan, a Thanjavurbased psychologist says, “Continuous exposure to screens can affect children visually, causing a lot of headaches. Psychologically, children do not concentrate fully in these classes, and if forced, it can cause a behavioural change in them. Depression and anxiety may also increase gradually among them.” Karthik Rajaram, an occupational therapist opines that the gadget visibility among children can increase the neurotransmitters in their body, thus stressing other organs. Speaking about the emotional impact due to lack of a face-to-face interaction, Karthikayani Murugan, a Coimbatore-based clinical psychologist said that the children who are victims of parental abuse or neglect may find it difficult to adjust to these new norms.

“For these children, schools are like a venting space where they get to talk to counsellors, teachers or friends. Although communication has transformed with technological advancement, assurance and establishing trust during online counselling can never come equal to a face-to-face interaction,” he added. According to V Hema, another clinical psychologist, educating teachers about the concept of a psychological first aid can play a significant role in understanding and guiding children. “School is where the second stage of socialization starts for children. In these uncertain times, when there is no possibility for regular schooling, parents should also take efforts to develop children’s social, interpersonal skills. As an intervention, when the infection is brought under control, the blended learning approach can be adapted

The other side

The pressure is not just on the parents and students, but also on teachers who have a mandate to get the job done. The government had issued orders for schools to allow students to download their video lessons from Hi-Tech labs recently installed in government schools. Poor internet connection made the job impossible. The School Education Department had to improvise on heels and has distributed the video lessons on pen drives to all Chief Educational Officers, who-inturn have been distributing the lessons to each school head’s laptop over the weekend.

“From Monday, we have asked schools to transfer videos from their laptops to students’. The data speed at the Hi-tech labs is only 1-2 Mbps fast. We heard from many teachers that they were unable to download. So we changed the strategy,” says S Kannappan, Director of the School Education Department. “It took about four hours to download 5 GB of data in the Hi-Tech Lab. So we ran the computers overnight thinking all files will be downloaded by morning.

The internet connection had broken in the night and all downloads gone,” said a teacher who works at a village government school that is 40 km from Tiruvannamalai. Many other teachers raised similar complaints. Government school students use laptops largely for entertainment and not education, says a higher secondary school teacher from Tiruvallur. “This is because they do not have a stable internet. The only way their laptop is of use to them, is when they transfer movies between each other. It will take time for them to use them for e-learning,” the teacher said.

He added that many students leave their textbooks at school as they do not learn at home. “We needed to individually counsel students to help them show interest in academics even before the pandemic. The chances of them learning on their own using these videos is very low,” he said, adding many children who come to government schools hail from difficult backgrounds.

The way forward

The government’s reaction to the disruption Covid-19 has had on education is an attempt at competing with private schools that started online classes early in Summer. However, students from government schools who have limited access to digitisation in the country, need little more. “The government should arrange for classes on a rotation basis.

That way students will both have at least partial access to the nutritious noon meal and at the same time, we can at least introduce the topics in the syllabus and clear doubts,” a teacher from north Chennai told TNIE. The teacher from Thiruvarur said that access to the internet as a learning tool was a pressing need for students. “The effects of pandemic will last for at least a year. Students need access to the internet in the meanwhile to keep themselves updated. Government should arrange for free Wi-Fi in certain schools or arrange for it through Panchayats,” he sai

The TV debate

The government recently announced that lessons would be aired through the education channel, Kalvi TV through the day. Following this, there were demands across the State to broadcast the channel through every cable operator and DTH provider, and to distribute smart phones/tablets/ laptops to those students whose parents couldn’t afford one. S Gnanasekaran, General Secretary of TN Higher Secondary School Headmasters’ Association is of the opinion that the government should have ensured everything was in place before announcing online classes.

He says, “They are loading digital educational content into the free laptops given to class 12 students. Little did they think that for students in remote villages, there would be connectivity issues. They should probably enter into an agreement with a telecom operator and provide 4G services in these areas.” The government as well will broadcast lessons on Kalvi TV for class 10, up to two and a half hours a day. A government school teacher seeking anonymity said, “Kalvi TV does not have the potential to teach so many students. These classes are being carried out only to extract fees from parents.

We must make use this opportunity to let students learn art forms.” Agreeing with the earlier comments, N Shanmuganathan, TN Elementary School Teachers’ Association President said, “These decisions seem arbitrary. The government does not consult with teachers, representatives, or parents, but just dispense and roll back directions at their whim.” TNIE contacted officials, and this is what they had to say: “90 per cent homes have TV sets, and Kalvi TV is being broadcasted to about 93 lakh cable connections through four leading networks. We have prepared over 2,000 lessons. If students have internet, they can also study through the TV’s YouTube channel.”

(Reporting by N Shyamsundar, Aravind Raj, N Ramesh, Aadhithya MS, Jeyalakshmi Ramanujam, N Dhamotharan, Chandhini R, MP Saravanan and Sushmitha Ramakrishnan. Written by Abhijith S Warier)

NO STABLE INTERNET
Some students use laptops largely for entertainment because they do not have a stable internet, says a government school teacher from Tiruvallur district.

‘SOCIALISATION IS VERY IMPORTANT’
V Hema, a clinical psychologist says that school is where the second stage of socialisation starts for children. Now, when there is no possibility for regular schooling, parents should also take efforts to
develop children’s social, interpersonal skills. When the situation comes under control, a blended
approach can be adapted, she adds.

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