Education Department Reaching Out to Remote Places with Laptops in all the BACs

Gangtok: The Samagra Shiksha Project of the Education has started reaching out to the students of the remotest areas in Sikkim by way of direct interaction maintaining proper social distancing protocol. Responding to some queries from the parents and stakeholders that students in remote places are deprived and worried because of online education, the State Project Director Sri Bhim Thatal has informed that Education Department has started sending laptops to such remote places where internet facilities are not available. Such laptops with pre-loaded educational contents together with the contents already broadcast and telecast from radio and TV are being sent to all the BACs to help students learn where smartphones, internet, TV or radio are not available. So far, the Department has identified about 130 such centres in the entire state and laptops have already been sent to these places. The Block Resource Centre Coordinators, Cluster Resource Centre Coordinators, AEOs and ADs of the concerned BACs will help the teachers of such schools and areas download the learning contents and help the students learn. The teachers residing nearby areas would come to such centres and take classes with the help of laptops preloaded with the teaching materials supplied by the Samagra Shiksha, Education Department duly maintaining COVID-19 protocol. Advising the BRCCs, CRCCs, all officers of the District levels and Samagra Shiksha employees of the entire state to reach out to the students and teachers as well during the lockdown, SPD Sri Thatal also requested to give feedbacks and suggestions to improve upon the initiatives being taken.
This may be noted here that the Samagra Shiksha of the Education Department has initiated Sikkim Edutech App, a proprietary app of the Department as the online mode of teaching learning process during the lockdown. Apart from this, learning programmes from Samvaad Television and All India Radio, Gangtok are other regular features being in practice. Apart from such programmes to reach out to the students, the Department through SCERT has also been imparting orientation programme for the primary teachers, BRCCs, CRCCs, Headmasters, ADs, DDs through radio on the use of newly developed textbooks for Classes 1 to 3.
The SPD has further mentioned that Education is a way to eliminate all kinds of discriminations and drifts in the society and that all efforts are made by the Department to reach out to the remotest places. Having understood the fact that all may not have smartphones, or may not be able to afford internet, such pre-loaded laptops are the most useful option utilized by the Department. He also mentioned that in the days to come, digital learning system will become a part of education system and therefore the Education Department is prepared to materialise digital learning as a part of education under various interventions