School Edu dept seeks details on no. of students with Internate access

Kolkata: The School Education department has sought information from headmasters of all state-sponsored and state-aided schools across Bengal about the respective number of students to whom they have reached through virtual mode of teaching.

Based upon the feedback, the department will come up with some sort of strategy to bridge the digital divide.

A number of schools in the state have already sent their feedback to the department and the remaining schools are expected to furnish information by the end of this week.

A source in the department said that by examining the already received reports it can be assessed that on an average 60 to 70 per cent of the students in the urban areas have access to smart phones but this will come down further in the rural and far flung areas of the state.

"We are providing the mobile numbers in which we have forwarded study materials to students. But we are not sure whether that particular phone number belongs to the student or any one of his guardian. If the number belongs to one of the guardian of a student then the student can access the phone only when his / her parent is at home and not out for any work. In my school it is around 65 per cent student who have access to smart phones," said a headmaster of a state-aided school in the city suburbs.

The department has already taken measures to reach out to students with poor internet access by launching a toll free number for class IX and X in which students can call and clarify any doubt or queries related to any subject. "This service has become very popular since its launch on August 4 and we are getting 6,000 to 8,000 calls on an average daily. The facility will be soon made available for students of class VI to VIII," said a senior official of the department.

The department is also planning to reach out to students through radio which is also economically viable considering its price.

The schools have also made arrangements to send activity tasks to the students of remote areas through their respective parents when the latter have come for collecting mid day meal.

The teachers have been sensitised so that they check the activity task allotted to these students from time to time.