BENGALURU:
Fifteen-year-old Jhansi B. preparing for her class X boards was struggling to access online classes held by her school since she did not have smart phones and access to internet. Her father who works as an auto driver is unable to earn during the second wave of COVID-19, and could not afford a smart phone for his daughter.
This is the story of many needy children in Bengaluru who do not have smart phones since their parents are unable to buy for them due to lack of money. As a result their education is lagging.A recent survey by the Department of Primary and Secondary Education found that around 33% of the 93.01 lakh students in Karnataka do not have access to devices required to attend online classes.
Looking at this huge lacuna, Pramod Srinivas, 29 year old, founder of youth organization Rashtriya Yuva Prathishtana has stepped forward to breathe a new hope into the lives of these children.
Pramod decided to buy tablets and arrange a hall for select children in the dhobi ghat in Padmanabha Nagar in Bengaluru where these children can comfortably attend their online classes daily.
“I saw the plight of these children in this backward locality where parents are struggling to make both ends meet. So I decided to give around 20 children from class I to class X tabs with internet connection to facilitate learning. I took the necessary permissions from the concerned authorities for arranging this hall,” apprises Pramod at the inauguration of the online classes today.
The online classes were inaugurated by R. Ashoka, Revenue Minister of Karnataka ( excluding Muzarai) and L.Srinivas, Ex. Deputy Mayor, BBMP Corporater, KSL Layout earlier this morning.
Murthy who lost his job in the pandemic and has a 12 year old child studying in class 7, says, “Thanks to Pramod and Rashtriya Yuva Prathishtana, my son is now able to attend his classes regularly. We need more people like these to come forward and help needy people like us.”
In fact, Pramod has gone one step ahead and arranged for a teacher to clarify doubts for the children post their classes too on a daily basis. “The teacher will give free tuition to the children in all subjects depending upon their school curriculum,” he adds.
Access to smart phones and Internet is still a challenge for many poor socio economic background children. After seeing the success of this, Pramod decides to extend this to a few other localities as well.
