Srinagar, June 29 (KNO): With no access to the internet and subsequently to online classes teachers in upper reaches and remote areas of Kashmir valley reach out to students even as schools remain closed in view of Covid-19 pandemic.
The teachers in these areas have started imparting lessons to the students by teaching them under open sky in nearby forest areas or in the lawns of their houses. One among those teachers is Ghulam Rasool, a government teacher posted at primary school Wehnard in Pahalgam who teaches the students under open sky who have no access to the internet. The students mostly belong to tribal communities who don’t have access to the internet and can’t afford to buy smartphones, thereby depriving them of the provisions of online classes.
Wehnard which falls close to the tourist destination Pahalgam has no internet facility and subsequently students of this village have no access to online classes. Ghulam Rasool who has realized the shortcomings decided to offer his services and teach the students under open space so that their academic session does not go waste due closure of schools in view of Covid-19 pandemic.
Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) Ghulam Rasool said that all the students across Kashmir valley are studying through online classes, however, there are some areas including Wehnard where no such facility is being offered to students. “If we also close our eyes to this situation, the students here will see a complete waste of their one academic year. The school where I am posted has around 50 students and most of them belong to the tribal community of the area. If we do not come forward to help them, they will be at loss,” he added.
He said that he has to traverse 4 kms on foot everyday to reach the village and then assemble the students in nearby forest areas to impart them school lessons.
He said the village has no internet access and the students also belong to a tribal community who cannot afford to buy smartphones so he decided to teach them in a traditional manner. Like Ghulam Rasool there are many other teachers who have resorted to traditional means to impart lessons to the students who don’t have access to online classes in absence of internet facilities. Rizwan Ahmad and his wife in Uri area of Baramulla and Khursheed Ahmad from Argi check area of Pulwama district are among those teachers who are reaching to their students even as schools remain closed.
Khursheed Ahmad, a teacher from Pulwama said that with the cooperation of parents as well as the students he is teaching the students in a nearby park by following all necessary protocols including social distancing in view of Covid-19 pandemic. Likewise, Rizwan Ahmad, a teacher from Uri also teaches his students in a traditional manner. Though the area has internet access but students belong to poor families who can’t afford to buy smartphones so Irfan and his wife teach the students in the lawns of their house—(KNO)