As the schools and colleges are shut down in this lockdown and online teaching methodology is been used many parents are still struggling for a proper education as they neither have a proper range of network or a television set at thier home.
Same is happening with Nishu’s father Shivjyoti Kumar, a farmer, says most parents at their village, Nayagaon in Bihar’s Begusarai district, are now depending on private tutors for their wards’ education as there are no signs of schools opening anytime soon and many are finding it difficult where the classes being aired on Doordarshan have found few takers in the region as many don’t have television sets; the one-way nature of the lessons and outdated content has also failed to attract students, say local residents.
Shivjyoti has 40 quintal of wheat from his land after share-cropping and he would be giving a part of it to Subodh Singh as payment for his tuitions.
“Wheat is our cash. Several farmers give wheat as tuition fee on most occasions.The teacher charges Rs 1,000 per month for teaching for an hour daily,” says Shivjyoti.
And so the demand for the private tutor in rural areas have been increased. Sudhir Singh is one of the tutor who charges 1000rs per month for an hour and he takes the classes in batches while also by following the social distancing policy.
“I have a total of 50 students and have divided them in 10 batches. I follow social distancing norms and ensure use of masks in my classes. I teach in the open spaces in the village. I am happy to contribute to the cause of education at a time when schools and colleges are shut,” says Singh, as Shivjyoti, once his student, nods.
The teacher says he has no problem with getting wheat in return for his lessons as “everyone needs to buy wheat anyway”.
