The education system has undergone a complete transformation during the pandemic. Online classes, open-book tests and empathetic teaching during a time when students were struggling with a gloomy reality. This Literacy Day, let us celebrate the spirit of teachers and students during these hard times. Here are four inspiring stories of hope and resilience from rural schools in a pandemic world.
17-year-old crowdfunds for online education of slum students
17-year-old Aria Gupta has been training students from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Vidya Mandir (SSRVM), Dharavi in designing, building and programming robotics since 2018. During the pandemic, SSRVM was bringing online education to its rural students with second-hand phones. However, the school found fifteen students were not attending classes regularly because they did not have devices. That is when Aria started a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for tablets for those fifteen students. She raised 80 per cent of the target amount. Aria also supplied electronic kits along with video tutorials to help students cope with online learning during the pandemic.
Rural students continued learning with WhatsApp video calls
Tribal students from Jharkhand found their parent’s or neighbor’s smartphones as a saving grace during this time. Sri Sri Gyan Mandir, a tribal school in Ranchi, Jharkhand with the help from volunteers of World Youth Council used WhatsApp video calls to teach primary level students. Parents of most students of the school are farmers or domestic helpers. The students have access to one smartphone, be it their parent’s or in the community they live. So, with a little bit of training, students learnt online through mediums like Google Meet and WhatsApp. Often, students teamed up in a community to access these online classes.
Teachers conduct mohalla classes for students in Chhattisgarh
Teachers of free schools of The Art of Living (Sri Sri Seva Mandir) based in Chhattisgarh travelled from one locality to another to teach students during the pandemic. Known as mohalla classes, these classes ensured the students continued their education and prevented big clusters of students.
Hundreds of students found refuge in yoga and meditation
Students in Himachal Pradesh’s government schools learnt yoga and meditation as a part of their online curriculum. As per the Har Ghar Pathsala (School at Every Home) program, Himachal Pradesh state authorities in association with The Art of Living made ten-minute yoga and meditation videos for students who received these videos on WhatsApp. Meanwhile, in Madhya Pradesh, 2,500 students from 59 Kendriya Vidyala (Central schools) learn yogic and breathing techniques to strengthen their immunity under The Art of Living’s covid care programs.
Little ones take their celebrations offline; students of higher classes resume offline school
Little ones from The Art of Living’s free schools celebrated festivals like Buddha Purnima and Holi by planting trees at home and painting themed art. Meanwhile, students of higher classes resumed offline classes with precautions.
Donate to The Art of Living Free Schools that are currently reaching 70,000 students in rural, tribal and urban slum areas.
