West Champaran ‘virtually’ shows the way to address teacher shortage and improve education system

The Bihar government had asked all schools to switch to online mode during the Covid lockdown. But after the lockdown was lifted, it was not mandatory for them to continue online classes.

Over the last few years, several government schools in West Champaran have been facing a paucity of teachers after they were upgraded to higher secondary schools. The local administration sees online teaching as an innovative way to address this shortage and improve the quality of education by providing students supplementary learning resources such as notes, crash courses and test series through the virtual mode.

With a special focus on students belonging to the scheduled caste and the scheduled tribe, LED screens have been installed at all the eight SC/ST hostels in the district.

Five classes each day, held on different subjects, are streamed live on Facebook and YouTube from a studio in Bettiah, the district headquarters of West Champaran. The administration has roped in about 50 teachers from reputed schools to help prepare and deliver content for the classes.

Suraj Kumar, a class 10 student at North Bihar Sugar Mill High School, located in Bagaha block of West Champaran, said: “For a student like me who cannot afford private tuition, online classes are very helpful. All doubts are cleared during the class itself. Weekly tests and, at times, daily tests are of great help.”

Suraj had been struggling with studies as his school does not have enough teachers. “Earlier, students were not interested in the recorded modules, but now nobody wants to miss the live online classes.”

Shikha Shukla, a class 10 student at Project Girls High School, Pathkhauli, said that she used to find classes at school boring but the live sessions on Facebook had changed her perspective. “My friend and I find the online classes very innovative,” she said.

Describing the online model, Subhash Narayan Singh, a technical assistant who also teaches Physics, said: “We take four to five classes (each lasting 40-60 minutes) daily except on Sundays. While one teacher faces the camera and explains the concepts on the whiteboard, another teacher assists her in the background.”

Kundan Kumar, the district magistrate of West Champaran, told The Indian Express: “With excellent attendance, the online teaching model has had a very good response from students and teachers.”

“It has also helped improve the quality of education as anyone can access these classes,” he said.