The COVID crisis has pushed the education system to go ‘digital’. While the online mode of learning has been a boon, bringing classes to the safe space of a student’s home amid the outbreak, there are millions of underprivileged children fighting to get access to education.

Children who cannot afford smartphones and laptops to attend online classes being helped by social organizations and good samaritans. One such incident is of a constable who has turned a teacher for the disadvantaged and has been running an ‘open-air classroom’ in the national capital.

Than Singh, a constable with the Delhi Police used to run his class from Sai Temple at Red Fort parking. However, with the imposition of a nationwide lockdown to curb the coronavirus outbreak, he decided to halt his offline classes for the want of safety.

Delhi: Policeman takes classes for poor children in a temple complex near Red Fort’I’d been running this class since before pandemic. These children can’t take online classes & I want them to study so they don’t get mired in bad company & criminality,’ says Constable Than Singh pic.twitter.com/l0cNo1RyRR

— ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2020

Delhi Singh’s pupils are mostly children of labourers residing in the area and on witnessing their plight, he decided to resume his classes.

‘I have been running this school for a long time but during the start of the pandemic, I closed it for children’s safety. But, when I saw many students were not able to take online classes, I decided to restart my school because they don’t have things like phone and computers,’ he said, reported NDTV.

Singh said that he is also educating these children about good hygiene habits required for protection against COVID-19 and ensuring that the classes are being according to the health protocols issued by the Health Ministry.

‘I am also providing them sanitisers, masks and we practice social distancing in our class,’ he added.

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