Teacher gets televisions repaired for tribal students' classes in Dahod

VADODARA: While the government may have attempted to bring the school to every home in the state by providing lessons on television, there are many who do not have access to even this facility.
A primary school teacher in the tribal-dominated Dahod district is out to bridge this gap and ensure students get a chance to study.
The teacher noticed that there were several hamlets - locally called ‘falias’ - in the tribal district that did not have television sets.In several houses, these were not in a working condition. The end result was that students of his school were missing out on lessons imparted on television.
The programming has been designed by the Gujarat Centre for Education Research and Technology (GCERT).
Ravindra Prajapati, an assistant teacher of Dablara primary school in Fatepura taluka, who was in touch with the students and their parents, realized the hardship and decided to do something about it. He made an appeal to people in various WhatsApp groups to part with unused television sets, disc antennas and receivers. He explained the difficulties of the students to the members of these groups.
The appeal was made on June 8 and by June 10, Prajapat had received five TV sets and seven disc antennas. These were given to a television repairer in Sukhsar who checked them and fixed those that were not in a working condition. These were then installed on dwellings in the hamlets.
“A minimum of five students and a maximum of around 12 students study at seven locations now using these televisions. At two places which had TVs, but no antennas and receivers, we provided only antennas and receivers,” said Prajapati. He added that more donations were in the pipeline.
Students come to the house where the TV has been kept and see the programmes. A timetable of the televised classes is also pasted on the houses.
The effort has also been noticed by the top brass of the education department in the district. “The effort is one that can inspire other teachers too. If others start making such changes, education would definitely start improving,” said Dahod district education officer (DEO) Mayur Parekh.
Lalubhai Baria, a resident of Savji Falia in Dablara, said there would be 20 to 30 houses in the area.
“Eight to 10 children come to study on television. Most houses did not have television sets and some were not working. Three of my children attend school on television now,” he said.