Balbharti’s e-content gets good response from students in Maharashtra amid Covid-19 pandemic

As schools in Maharashtra continue to conduct classes virtually for the past 6 months, the online content created by Balbharti – the state’s publishing bureau –

As schools in Maharashtra continue to conduct classes virtually for the past 6 months, the online content created by Balbharti – the state’s publishing bureau – has been a hit among students and parents.

HT Image

According to data shared by Balbharti, more than 1 lakh students have downloaded the E-Balbharti application on mobile phones after it was launched in January. Most of the downloads were recorded after the schools closed in the state owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are happy to see that a large number of students are benefitting from the online study material that is made available through the app. While the app was initially intended to be paid, we made it free for a few months due to the Covid-19 situation and the resultant closure of physical schools,” said Vivek Gosavi, director, Balbharti.

The publishing bureau recently launched another mobile app – Geo Survey – for students of Class 12, who have geography as their subject, to learn how to conduct geo surveys online.

Over the past few years, Balbharti has been uploading PDF textbooks of all subjects on its official website – http://ebalbharati.in. Textbooks of the revised Class 12 syllabus were uploaded on the website in April, even before physical textbooks were made available in markets. The website has so far seen more than 2.5 crore downloads.

Manisha Kadam, a teacher from a suburban school, said students who do not have access to internet for classes are able to use the PDF textbooks online.

“Many students cannot afford to recharge their internet every month. So we send them PDF books on social messaging apps of their parents or relatives. We ask them to solve exercises and send us for correction,” she added.