An educational non-profit virtually connects rural children with teachers who can instruct in their native language
Before the second wave of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections hit the country in April this year, Leela OM, a biotechnologist from Bengaluru, would get in front of her computer a few times each week and connect with a laptop in a hostel for children of tribal communities in Alappuzha, Kerala. On the other side, a group of children with notebooks and pencils in hand would greet her in their native language, Malayalam, and then the class would begin for the day.
“When I first began teaching English and Mathematics to these students of class 11 and 12, they were extremely apprehensive. But given that we communicate in their native tongue, they have gained confidence to speak up and raise questions,” she said.
While Leela waits to resume her classes, which stopped after COVID-19 cases began to rise earlier this year, 17 other teachers like her are able to connect with students of tribal communities across the country and are able to speak and communicate with them in their native language, thanks to Bengaluru-based educational non-profit Centre for Learning & Empowerment or CLE Trust.
Its founder Rahul Pandey began this initiative recognising how children in inaccessible areas missed out on education during the first lockdown last year due to poor access to infrastructure like computers and internet.
In May 2020, Pandey, who is also a visiting faculty at the Lucknow and Udaipur campuses of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), began to collaborate with non-profits working on the ground in different rural and semi-urban locations, who arranged internet connections and laptops and projectors.
The non-profits also helped identify rooms that can be used as educational centres. “Until April, we had classes in a total of 10 locations, including one offline session in Bengaluru. Post the second wave, five locations have resumed lessons: Nagapattinam districts in Tamil Nadu; Gadag district in Karnataka; and Varanasi, Lucknow and Kanpur districts in Uttar Pradesh. While some students are in lower grades (Classes 3-6), others are in high school and higher secondary school,” said Pandey. Overall, the teachers are able to reach 230-250 students across the country, he estimates.
Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology and English are the subjects of focus. “We do not follow a set syllabus, but rather concentrate on laying the foundation through creative teaching methods so students can understand at least the basic concepts,” said Leela, who now works with CLE Trust as an academic programme coordinator.
For instance, English teachers use role plays, debates and songs as learning methods. Likewise, Mathematics teachers use simple puzzles, games, and relatable examples while explaining the concepts.
The plan now, adds Pandey, is not just to make up the missed lessons and revive the closed centres, but also rope in more teachers to reach more states where children are deprived of education not only because of lack of internet facilities but also due to the language barriers.
This was first published Down To Earth’s print edition (dated 16-30 November, 2021)
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