Kalyan school alumni funds phones for students to continue with online classes

The Balak Mandir Sanstha Primary School at Tilak Chowk in Kalyan (W), a Marathi medium school established in 1949, took the initiative of giving mobile phones to those students who are deprived of online education as their parents could not afford one

Deepali Joshi, 37, a computer teacher who lost her job during the lockdown was struggling to manage her children’s online education due to lack of a mobile phone. Her husband who used to run a cybercafé was also out of work due to the lockdown.

The school, which has around 500 students, gifted mobile phones to 35 students recently. The funds for the phone were allotted by the alumni of the school. (Rishikesh Choudhary/ HT)

The school her seven-year-old daughter studies in will be giving them a phone to ensure the girl’s education is not affected.

The Balak Mandir Sanstha Primary School at Tilak Chowk in Kalyan (W), a Marathi medium school established in 1949, took the initiative of giving mobile phones to those students who are deprived of online education as their parents could not afford one. The school, which has around 500 students, gifted mobile phones to 35 students recently. The funds for the phone were allotted by the alumni of the school.

Joshi said, “The phone which I have is given for my son’s online class. I was clueless about my daughter’s online class. Also my husband’s phone is an old model. When the school decided to give her a phone, she was happy. During the lockdown, we both lost our jobs and have also taken up selling stationeries. However, that also did not succeed as the schools are shut and most people buy stuff online now-a-days,” said Joshi.

After collecting the funds, the school also formed a team to do a survey of those students who were not able to attend the online class due to lack of mobile phones. The team visited their houses and checked their financial condition and learned about the ordeals of the parents.

“Most of the students who were not able to attend the online class are from remote areas. Their parents could not afford phones. We decided to give them one so that their education was not affected. We also helped them with SIM cards and did the recharge for two months so that they start attending the lectures online,” said Vilas Likhar, a Class 4 teacher at the school.

Yogita Sutar, 38, a parent of two girls, said, “My younger daughter could not attend the class for two months as I had only one phone to give to my elder daughter for her class. She was upset about it while we were struggling to buy a new phone. My husband works in Mumbai and we earn very less. Now, she had started attending the class regularly”

Vrushali Kulkarni Joshi, 29, an alumni of the school, said, “When I came to know about the school initiating to give phones to the students, I decided to discuss this in my alumni group and most of them agreed. We managed to raise ₹1 lakh and give to the school. I passed out in 2006-07, and I am still connected to my school.”