Interview

Schools Make Children Ready For Future : Lakshya Chabriya

In an exclusive chat, we talked to Mr. Lakshaya Chhabaria, President of Affordable Schools. 

 

Schools Make Children Ready For Future : Lakshya Chabriya

By Mansi Ranjan 

In a time where running a school is just a mere business, there is a chain of Affordable Schools that charge a nominal fee price of Rs. 500-1500. These schools make children ready for future by providing them the basic education at a nominal fee price. These schools match the same educational standards as that of any other big school. 

In an exclusive chat, we talked to Mr. Lakshaya Chhabaria, President of Affordable Schools. And how he has been dealing with online classes during the time of lockdown in the country. Here's the excerpt. 

Online classes now have become the only source of education, then how in an online classroom a teacher can help a weak student ?

First of all, there is an attendance mechanism. So, that teachers regularly check the attendance of students. A support staff has the duty to make the entry in google forms. If students have problem or they are not able to understand, teachers give chance to students to raise their hands & clear their doubts. Regular tests are also being conducted so that a teacher check the performance of the student. It is important for the students to be attentive in class so that they can perform well in exams.

There are time where students don't pay attention in a physical classroom, then how can a teacher check on the student if he is not even visible on the screen ? 

There is a saying which says," You cannot teach a student, you can only guide a man so that he can reach on his way." So as an educator we can only guide a student so that he achieves what he aspires for. And we also inform their parents if their children are attentive in class or about their performance in tests & classroom. These small things have helped teachers to make the student attentive in class. 

Theoretical subjects like English & Hindi are easy to teach even in a physical classroom. But what about practical subjects like Maths & Science that need calculations ?

Earlier our teachers had problems teaching these subjects. But now they have found a solution to it. Teachers usually make PowerPoint presentations of the problems & solve them step wise. Through PowerPoint presentations students are able to understand the steps & can perform calculations easily.

In a country like India, network issue is a constant problem. Then, how a student study if he's not able to connect ?

Our teachers use Zoom for teaching. And it has the facility to record the classes. Teachers usually record the class & then upload it on YouTube. So that if the student was not able to connect at that moment, his studies are not stopped even after that,  because of the network issue.

You talked about taking classes on Zoom. But there were some cases of Data Breach on Zoom & other applications as well. Then to what extent is a student safe from all these ?

If you are talking about data breach on Zoom, then we are not even sure about how much data is safe on Facebook as well. So, according to me it was just a negative propaganda against Zoom. Earlier, Zoom calls were not encrypted. But now after these cases, Zoom has encrypted every call, so that no other case of date breach is there. Also, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has issued some guidelines like, we should not share meeting passwords & ids. We should enable waiting rooms. So, if we follow these guidelines no as case will come.

Also, we use Zoom because it is user-friendly. Teachers can easily record classes. And can even mute the participants. On different applications like Google Meet, Microsoft Team & others you first have to login then a mail is sent to the student, then only he can join the class. But with Zoom you only have to schedule a meeting & a Whatsapp link is sent, which is convenient to use. 

Government has taken the initiative to teach students through television channels. But there are various villages which don't have electricity. Then how will a student learn ?

Television channels have been started so that a student who does not have internet connection can study. Government has tried to reach last person on the last mile so as to help the students. And if there is no electricity in a village, there are community radios in a village. Government has started educational channels on them as well, so that education is reached to every student, in every corner of the country. 

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