As the schools remain in lockdown mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of engineering students from Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) are ‘unlocking education’ for school children on the virtual platform. To help the students cope up with their syllabus and doubts, these students are offering free online tutorial classes.
The initiative called “Unlock Education: The New Face of Knowledge” was started in July by Hrudananda Prusty, a Btech student and his two batchmates Ankita Meher and Ayushi Swain. They founded a Facebook page by the same name and asked students to write to them if they have doubts on the subjects. The social media page caters to all students from Class VIII to Class X.
“In these difficult times as schools and tuitions are closed, many students are facing difficulties in their studies. So, we have taken an initiative to help and clear the doubts of students of classes VIII, IX and X. This is an initiative by the students and for the students,” Hrudananda states the idea behind starting ‘Unlock Education.”
Once a student opens their Facebook page, a chat box opens automatically for the student to post his query. Based on the education board, the student is added to the respective WhatsApp group. A direct contact number is also provided on the page.
Initially, Hrudananda depended on his friends and family to spread information about the initiative. Soon, his friends also joined and there are currently 12 members in the core team that look after the conceptualization and execution of the initiative.
So far, close to 200 students are already active and are seeking help from around 50 college students, who are given subjects according to their expertise. Besides, answering doubts on WhatsApp or through audio or video call, the team also conducts special classes.
Going forth, Hrudananda is planning to conduct a test every 15 days to check the improvement and help the students prepare for the examination.