Lessons on radio for children in Kashmir from next week

To reach out to maximum students amid the coronavirus lockdown, the School Education Department in Kashmir is starting audio classes from next week in collaboration with the All India Radio, officials said.

The educational broadcast will enable students to learn through the medium of radio while sitting in their homes and the idea behind the initiative is to engage the students and to reach out to them while they are confined to their homes due to nationwide lockdown, they said.

The teachers will be delivering lessons as per curriculum and the same will reach students through radio.

The lessons will be aired on the All India Radio, Srinagar during day time for which time slots have already been specified by the station, the officials said.

The Directorate of School Education (DSEK), Kashmir had started tele-classes on March 26 through the Kashir channel of Doordarshan Kendra, Srinagar and presently two classes are aired daily covering the syllabus of elementary and secondary classes.

The department has also reached out to students through local cable networks which telecast the lessons prepared by DSEK.

The DSEK has connected to a large number of students through its digital platform and video classes have been kept available for students on its YouTube channel which is linked to the official website of the DSEK.

Director, School Education, Kashmir, Mohammad Younis Malik said these platforms have been kept available for children so that they do not feel isolated and can continue with their studies while staying at their home due to lockdown.

He said the Directorate is exploring all options to reach out to students online and offline so that their studies do not suffer due to coronavirus outbreak.

Restrictions are in force in Kashmir to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Security forces have sealed off main roads in most places in the valley and erected barriers at several other places to check the unwanted movement of the people and to enforce the lockdown, they said.

The total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir has reached 494, even as six patients have died and 112 have recovered.

More than 66,000 people have been kept under surveillance including those who are either in government established quarantine facilities or in home isolation.

Till date, 66343 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been enlisted for surveillance which include 6324 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 263 in hospital quarantine, 376 in hospital isolation and 10974 under home surveillance. Besides, 48400 persons have completed their surveillance period, the officials said.