Thirty-four-year-old Deep Narayan Nayak, a primary school teacher in the tribal village of Joba Attpara in Paschim Bardhaman district of the eastern state of West Bengal, has painted blackboards on the walls of houses and taught children on the streets for the past year.Like all other schools across the country, the Tilka Majhi Adivasi Primary School where Nayak teaches has been shut for a year-and-a-half.
Digital India is a distant dream for underprivileged children who have been flung by the wayside as education all over the country turned online.
With a largely tribal population and first-generation learners who have no access to the Internet or devices, school for the students in this village came to a grinding halt.
Nayak, who has been a school teacher for 11 years was disturbed by the havoc wreaked by the pandemic and the disruption in the lives of little children. With parents out of work, sheer sustenance was a huge challenge. Education was a luxury they could ill-afford.Nayak decided not to lament their plight but find a solution instead.
Nayak first began by holding classes beneath the shade of leafy trees in the verdant fields.But with the rains the ground turned slushy, insects would disturb the children.He was then struck with an innovative idea.He decided to take the lessons to their doorstep. Makeshift classrooms would be set up in different localities in the district.This would allow children to continue with their lessons and there would be no interaction wi
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