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DIGITAL is the buzz word over the last few years, but it acquired a new meaning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The corporate world switched over to “Work from home” and the Education world to “Study from home”. BUT…. was this easy for one and all, especially in a country like India, where a large section of the society is yet to be digitalized? In a country where the economic divide is a norm, there was now a new norm, “The Digital Divide”

We at Muqaam help children from the economically weak section with their educational needs so that each child has an opportunity to fulfill their dreams. Needless to say, these children have minimal access to smart-phones, laptops as well as the internet to be able to switch to online study mode. The problem is further compounded by the fact that most of the parents of these children are not literate enough to help through the online studying process.

While the journey from physical mode to online mode was an uphill task, a beginning had to be made. We started a campaign across social media platforms and with our well-wishers to procure used phones/laptops or equivalent funds. We were fairly successful in this campaign and were able to mobilize smartphones for many of the children.  However, not having access to phones/internet was a fairly small problem for these families who faced a much bigger challenge of basic survival due to large scale unemployment. We hence also tried to help as many families with food and ration requirements, because only if basic needs are met can one think of education!!

We used a blended approach of teaching by way of using online platforms as well as digital worksheets during this period. We also use the ‘Curious Times’ e-news portals, which is a very easy to use and interactive platform to share various types of local, national and international news with our children. Hence, this new way of teaching has helped us in creating a library of digital resources which we plan to use in the future to reach out to a higher number of children across the country.

The Government has been quick to respond to reforms pertaining to sanitation, hygiene, economic policies, but reforms in education are yet lacking. The Unlock guidelines have also placed education reforms as a low priority, a ripple effect of which will be felt gravely in the years to come. A pause in the education across this vulnerable section of the society can have severe regressive effects like high drop- out rates.

To conclude our teachers have gone beyond their call of duty during this pandemic to support not only the children but their families as well thereby ensuring that the entire family is happy and well which in turn helps the education process of the child.

Our special thanks to ‘Curious Times’ for their support with the ‘e-newspaper’ and short videos, which pioneers our digital initiative amongst the others.

We wish all the teachers and education providers a very Happy Teachers Day! Stay Safe and Healthy and continue to spread the light !!!

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