Maharashtra: Parents demand streaming of online classes on maths, science in civic schools

Under this initiative, civic school students are able to attend online classes by Khan Academy, a popular ed-tech platform, on their respective devices at home. These online classes are held every Thursday for Mathematics and every Friday for Science between 7pm and 8pm. While the initiative has been well appreciated by all, concerns have been raised after witnessing low response to these classes.

Highlighting that school children have to depend on parents for device access, one of the parents said, “Most of us are working parents, and return late, making it difficult for our children to attend these classes online.” Apart from timings, some parents also pointed out that they are unable to provide adequate internet support. “We do have a smartphone but the internet connection is not enough to support streaming of these online classes,” said another parent.

There are some schools such as Mitha Nagar school and A R Colony school, where more than 50 per cent students are able to connect online for these classes. But there are some schools such as those in Aarey Colony, Motilal Nagar, etc where the response is as low as less than 10 per cent.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner (education) Prachi Jambhekar denied to comment on the issue stating that the the department is taking meetings with schools to know the actual facts.