SHILLONG: Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui on Wednesday urged all the heads of educational institutions and teachers to continue teaching students via e-learning and using apps like Google Classroom, Zoom app, partnering with local startup crschool.online or using email and WhatsApp to send assignments.
In a message, the minister thanked the heads of institutions for their support to the government during the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic and requested them to render support to the students and teachers.
The minister highlighted the importance of using online platforms for teaching.
“At this time of social distancing, classroom teaching is not feasible but we now have strong digital infrastructure, e-learning and virtual knowledge sharing platforms. These allow us to continue teaching and guiding students. Our students are our top priority,” he said.
He also urged the teachers to utilise time to innovate and find ways and means to connect with the students.
He informed that the education department has partnered with the local startup organisation crschool.online for the purpose and the response has been encouraging.
“I urge all the institutions to initiate this exercise and utilise the App for online learning,” he said.
The minister also assured to release all pending salaries on time including school grants and uniform grants for the students.
Message to parents
Rymbui urged the parents to spend quality time with their children to continue with their studies, complete assignments and learn new skills. “The COVID-19 pandemic has caused us to experience the unexpected, perhaps something we have only heard or read about. A month has passed and we still don’t know for how long it will continue…I understand the pain, anxiety and suffering that everyone is experiencing but one thing I can say with confidence is that we will all come out of this stronger, more resilient and better prepared,” Rymbui said .
He also said that it is very important to teach children moral values so that they may learn to respect the environment and their surroundings.
Cooking
“Let’s move away from the head learning process but also teach your children a life skill especially learning how to cook or just working in the kitchen as this will help them survive in any situation when they have learnt to sustain and take care of themselves,” the minister said.
According to the education minister, learning is a continuous process.
“Let us hope that when this phase is passed, you would have learnt a new life skill maybe gardening or any household chore of your interest or even a new hobby,” he said.
Strategy for exam
On the issue of pending examinations, he said that they are planning out a strategy so that students stranded outside are not left out.
“My advice to you all is to be hopeful and have faith that this will all end. We should be able to come out of the situation on a positive note. The pandemic has taught us to appreciate things that we have always taken for granted,” the minister said.
He also said the pandemic has taught people the value of life. “By staying home we are not only saving ourselves but our entire community. Do your bit to conquer and defeat this deadly virus that has taken over the world,” he requested.
Rural students
When asked about the students in rural areas where connectivity is a major issue, the minister said the idea is not to substitute classroom teaching but just to engage students. Acknowledging the difficulties, he said that those who have infrastructure can effectively use online tools.
