Ganesh Prasad
Principal, Sadguru High School, Chikmagalur
Ganesh Prasad is principal of the Sadguru High School, a government-aided private secondary school (classes VIII-X) sited in Basarikatte, a remote village in Karnataka’s Chikmagalur district. During the past year of pandemic-induced closure, the school’s eight teachers including Prasad regularly trekked 10 km through hilly forest terrain to reach education to the school’s 150 mostly tribal children. Sadguru High is set in a distant village where most children have no Internet connectivity or access to digital devices.
How have you maintained learning continuity for your children during the Central government mandated closure of all schools?
Since declaration of the lockdown 15 months ago, poor children have been substantially deprived of education. I feel guilty about my school children’s massive learning loss. About 40 percent of our students have intermittent access to digital devices and we provide some online learning. But 60 percent have no Internet connectivity or access to digital devices. A majority of them may well have dropped out of school altogether.
Against this bleak backdrop, we are doing our best to continue to reach education to our students. We shortlisted eight habitats in which our students reside and identified one house in each cluster to serve as a learning centre. Once per week, our teachers trek through the thick jungle risking their lives. A computer equipment shop run by a family member of one of our teachers serves as an exchange point for teachers to drop worksheets for students to complete. We also deliver foodgrains and pulses allocated for the mid-day meals in government schools, to children’s homes.
How are your teachers addressing the issue of huge learning loss suffered by children?
Twenty percent of our students live in remote hamlets deprived even of conventional telephones. Therefore, Internet connectivity is a distant dream. We have no choice but to reach these students in person and visit them at least once a week to hand over worksheets and notes. But visiting children in village homes involves trekking through dense forest because otherwise, they won’t learn anything at all. Once schools reopen, we will have to introduce intensive remedial and bridge programmes.
What are your plans to deal with future pandemic disruptions?
If the pandemic continues, we will have to strengthen our online and offline learning models. We will also need to visit children at home more frequently to minimise learning loss. Our priority is to keep students interested in learning and prevent them from dropping out of education. In far-flung areas where Covid-19 positive cases are rare, government should allow schools to reopen immediately to prevent any further damage to children’s education.
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