With everything going digital online, there are a new set of challenges that we are being faced with.
Among many others, a concern is growing for the school students who are not “traceable” since the lockdown was announced and have not been attending online classes or replying to phone calls. The status of close to 15% students in Delhi is unknown.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that efforts are being made to track and locate these students either physically or telephonically to get them back into the system.
There are over 15 lakh students enrolled in over 1100 Delhi government schools and it turns out that approximately 4-5 students in each class are not traceable.
Majority of the students are believed to be class 6 students. Teachers are regularly communicating with students and sending studying materials and activities via Whatsapp, SMS, email etc. Manish Sisodia said:
I have been reviewing this personally and we have been able to trace few students, for others either they are not staying at the same addresses or their phone numbers mentioned in our records are not traceable. I have asked that School Management Committees (SMCs) should be roped in to track these students. There are certain students who have gone to places like Uttarakhand and Bihar but are still connected with us and are attending the classes and doing assignments.
The reasons for students missing out on regular classes could range from people simply not being able to access digital platforms for their education while it could also be due to the migration from their base to hometowns.