'No Internet? No Issue': Jharkhand Teacher Buys Projector To Teach Poor Children

A school teacher in Dumka, Jharkhand has come up with an innovative idea for making digital content available to the underprivileged children.

Tapas Kumar Das, who teaches at Mahua Utkramit Madhya Vidyalaya under Jarmundi Block has been holding regular 'Mohalla' classes for kids in nearby localities.

Apart from this, he has been conducting special tutorials in the evening with the help of a projector so that children who don't have access to smartphones or internet could study through the digital contents provided for them on WhatsApp under Digi-Sath programme of the State Government.

Das connects a projector through his mobile phone and displays digital content on a screen placed before a group of students. With the halt in regular schooling due to the pandemic, he started special classes for 267 children at five 'tolas' (localities) who come from four villages every alternate day while maintaining social distancing norms.

He decided to purchase a projector for the sake of students through which he has been making all the contents available to them. For his noble initiative, 10 volunteers, two from each locality have been assisting him in holding special classes. The volunteers make digital contents available to the children from time to time through their own mobile phones, due to lack of connectivity in the town.

Besides this, they also assist users in making arrangements and managing the special audio-visual classes in their respective areas.

"Since it is not possible to operate the projector during day time, I have fixed the timing of 6-7 pm in the evening," said Das as reported by The New Indian Express. Each special class consists of 60 students of the nearby locality.

Volunteers are also actively taking part in running the special class to ensure that the children do not miss out any lesson.

A volunteer named Munna Bhandari, an Engineering Graduate who has been stuck at his village due to lockdown since March this year, said that he is utilizing his time by working for a social cause and helping the children assist in their studies.

Bhandari further added children are also taking interest in this special class and learning things faster. Since they are available round the clock in the village, they are being approached by the children, in case they have any doubt.

The children are also happy to learn with the new technology. Other teachers have appreciated Das for his innovative idea of teaching students. Though Mohalla classes are being held by more than 500 schools in Dumka, Tapak Kumar Das have left many behinds through his innovation. He has even been praised by National Spokesperson of All India Primary Teachers Federation Shyam Kishore Gandhi for his innovative methods adopted in teaching.

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