Rural teachers get a lifeline

Kolkata: Pankaj Kumar Bhattacharya is a happy man. A primary school teacher in a small village in rural West Bengal, he confidently takes into stride poor infrastructure, slow learners and overcrowded classes. But there are times when, like his students, he has questions of his own; questions that he wished there were answers to. Not any more. LifeLines Education, a pioneering and first-of-its-kind academic support service for rural teachers, was rolled out in the Monteswar Block in Bardhaman district of West Bengal in January this year. Pankaj Bhattacharya (right) and other teachers at the Bardhaman launch/ Photo credit:OWSA Using an innovative mix of telephony and internet, this phone-based service helps teachers working in remote areas with critical instructional aid while also linking them up with a network of educational experts. “Monteshwar being economically, socially and educationally backward, has always been short on resources as compared to cities like Kolkata,” says Bhattacharya. “Getting others’ viewpoints through LifeLines Education has helped me to better manage my students.” A class in progress in Putsuri village in Bardhaman /Photo credit:OWSA Covering 13 panchayats, 164 villages, and 571 schools, the LifeLines Education has been a boon for Bhattacharya and thousands of other teachers. The project is being implemented by Vikramshila Education Resource Society (VERS) in partnership with OneWorld South Asia (OWSA) and is supported by USAID, BT, CISCO and Quest Alliance. Pankaj Bhattacharya was among a hundred other teachers attending the launch of LifeLines Education at KusumGram, Bardhman on February 26. Linking teachers to expertspeak LifeLines Education’s pool of expertise includes professors from renowned universities, child psychologists, officials from the Department of School Education, and heads of different school boards. “The purpose is to help teachers gain from these experts without bearing upon their time,” said Naimur Rahman, Director, OWSA. At the launch, Saidul Haq, Chairman, District Primary School Council drew attention to the alarming rate of dropouts among poor households in rural areas. “The task ahead is to hold on to these students and create faith among themselves to embrace change for better lives.” Saidul Haq speaks at the Bardhaman launch /Photo credit:OWSA It is here that LifeLines Education falls into place by facilitating support to teachers in dealing with first-generation learners, added Shubhra Chatterji, Director, VERS. The event was also attended by local dignitaries Parash Kanti Chakraborty, Chairperson, Panchayat Samiti, Sadan Das, Head, KusumGram Panchayat, and Saumen Basu, Block Development Officer. Storing knowledge for sharing LifeLines Education is an extension of OWSA’s LifeLines for Agriculture service that has been functioning with considerable success in north and central India since 2006. “Voice is the most powerful medium to leverage information service delivery in communities where literacy and language are barriers. We wanted to help the rural farming community by linking voice to web technology, thus giving ordinary people the chance to get answers to questions that are key to improving their lives” said Naimur Rahman. The same technology platform with appropriate customization has now been employed to deliver information to teachers. “The service truly leverages the democratic potential of ICTs to enable knowledge sharing between stakeholders in the education sector,” added Rahman. ‘Helping teachers is helping society’ At another launch at Kolkata on February 29, the LifeLines Education was demonstrated live to an audience that primarily included the Vikramshila’s board of experts and other eminent guests. “Helping teachers is helping society,” said chief guest Dushyant Nariala, State Project Director, Sarva Shiksha Mission, expressing his hope that the service would help tackle the issue of inclusive education in the state. Dushyant Nariala makes a call /Photo credit:OWSA “Technology if used intelligently can impact larger number of people in lesser time,” said Dana Fischer, Director, Office of Social Development, USAID. She was also confident that the project would become a model for governments to take to other states. Dushyant Nariala also pointed out the need to analyse the knowledge base created for future policy reform and redesigning of textbooks. “The knowledge base is a public good and we hope to thus contribute to policymaking,” added Rahman. Other eminent guests at the event included Ashish Sethi of QUEST Alliance, Dr Rathindra Nath Dey, Director, SCERT, D.G. Ghatak, Deputy Director, School Education Department, Dr S.N. Pal, Director and Abdul Razzaque, Deputy Director, Dept. of Minorities Welfare & Development and Madrasah, Prof Ujjwal Basu, Ex-President, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, Prof Deborshi Mondal, Secretary, Primary Board, Jyotirbhusan Dutta, Educational Consultant, S.S.K. Mission, Sudhanshu Sekhar Das Mohapatra and Deboprasad Mukherji, Educational Consultants in the Primary Board. As the project hopes to become the lifeline for teachers in the countryside, it is the words of Prophet Mohammad, as quoted by Professor Ujjwal Basu that well sums up the grand intent of the road ahead: “Knowledge is a chest of jewels and the question is the key.”

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