Varsha Gaikwad, Minister of School Education, Maharashtra, has written to Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Information and Broadcasting requesting the use of two Doordarshan, or DD National, channels for school education in Maharashtra.
Ms Gaikwad says that it has been difficult to continue education during the unprecedented situation brought on by COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown. The lockdown had forced the schools to close down a month before the summer vacations leading to significant loss of instructional time.
The letter says, “The Government of Maharashtra along with State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) is figuring out different ways to support student learning in these difficult times, including promoting DIKSHA as a source for learning via mobile devices.”
COVID-19 And School Education
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting have provided time slots to various states to impart educational content through DD national channels.
Expressing interest in Union Government's offer of using national channels for imparting channels, the Maharashtra Government has requested, “We wish to broadcast 12 hours of daily educational content through any two channels which come under DD national channel and two hour of daily content on All India Radio (AIR).”
“We have our virtual classroom studio, if you allow us to transmit the live broadcast also it will be a great help,” the letter adds.
We have requested the central govt. to give 12 hr air on national tv and 2 hr radio slot so that we can conduct educational programs for children which can reach tribal and rural maharastra kids where e-learning and internet access is a problem.@CMOMaharashtra #eLearning pic.twitter.com/iZo0iTwA8A
— Varsha Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) May 29, 2020
SCERT Maharashtra
Ms. Gaikwad says that SCERT Maharashtra will be deputed as the nodal academic body to manage digital learning and interactive content for various classes. SCERT will also coordinate with various state departments and telecasting processes with national departments.
She also informed that the state has already started working on the content and accumulated over 1000 hours of content.
Appointing Mr Vikas Garad, Deputy Director of SCERT as the point of contact for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ms. Gaikwad has shared his contact details with the union ministry.
All educational institutions in the country were ordered to shut down to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The nationwide lockdown was enforced on March 25 and is in effect till May 31. The Union Government has actively promoted online education through digital platforms and Swayam Prabha TV channels.
