In an effort to solve the issue of inaccessibility of study material amid the COVID-19 crisis, the Punjab government is all set to launch the ‘Punjab Educare’ app for government school students. The app will have systematically arranged study material including textbooks, video lessons, and daily assignments for all subjects.
In the wake of the pandemic, the state education department had introduced virtual classes through various TV/radio channels, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Skype/Zoom, among others. With the Educare app, the department aims to end the students’ worry about the loss of useful study material that the department is providing daily.
An additional tool for teachers and students, they can have hassle-free access to the syllabus, textbooks in PDF form, video lectures, worksheets, assignments, quizzes, etc. through the app. It will help both the teachers and students to recap any topic whenever they want.
‘It is user-friendly, compact, easy to access and encourages perfect coordination among teachers and students,’ Chander Shekhar, one of the teachers instrumental in developing the app, and district mentor of the ‘Padho Punjab’ programme, English, told The Indian Express.
The app has sections like ‘Teachers’ station’, ‘Students’ corner’, ‘Word of the day’ and ‘Udaan’. In the app, the user can visit the desired section and select the class and subject of their choice.
Furthermore, to accelerate the pace of qualitative improvement in education, the state education department has also launched a ‘capacity building’ programme. Under the programme, the department has started a series of webinars for imparting online training to officials and teachers.
‘Though the pandemic has forced the closure of schools, the Education Department has virtually transformed the unprecedented challenge into an opportunity to tap advanced sources of Information Technology,’ said Education Secretary Krishan Kumar.
‘Our dedicated teachers have been doing a commendable job in making the ‘Ghar Baithe Sikhiya’ programme successful. It is the need of the hour for all officials and teachers to overcome their inhibitions regarding use of latest IT applications as the new innovative the methodology would continue to be fruitful even after the pandemic is over,’ Kumar added.
