Online Education at a Primary School in Bhilwara ‘Nearly 50% of our students do not have a proper smartphone’
The Government Primary School in Bambola doesn’t have any computer for its office use. Nonetheless its teachers have been trying to educate their students through the internet, as part of a Rajasthan government program called Social Media Interface for Learning Engagement – or SMILE.
A small village of some 60 households located in Bhilwara district, some 250km from Jaipur, Bambola has seen hardly any cases of COVID19, yet its sole primary school remains closed since New Delhi imposed a lockdown last March.
SMILE involves joining a WhatsApp group, in which videos prepared or selected by the department of education are shared with teachers along with study materials. Teachers forward these links to their students’ parents’ phones, and are expected to call them to check that they have been watching.
Updated Dec 21, 2020 | 17:44 IST
Rajasthan schools would remain closed for a week for the winter holidays from December 25 to December 31, 2020. The teachers will have to attend the schools for online classes. Rajasthan schools to remain closed from December 25 to 31 | Photo Credit: Representative Image
Rajasthan government has declared winter school holidays from December 25 to December 31, 2020, in view of the rising number of COVID cases across the state. All schools will remain closed in the state, while teachers will have to attend schools daily and continue the online classes to avoid any disruption to studies.
The teachers will also have to engage themselves in implementing project SMILE or Social Media Interface for Learning Engagement that was launched on April 14 in the state. Through this project, online learning materials would be sent to teachers through WhatsApp groups.