State education department rolls out e-learning content for Class 1-9

The state education department started rolling out digital learning content to students in government and aided schools across Maharashtra on Monday (April 13). Under the initiative, students from Class 1 to 9 can watch videos, listen to recorded lessons and solve exercises on their phones.

The content is hosted on the Diksha app which is a ministry of human resource department (MHRD) platform for e-learning. Every day, students would be sent a set of links on the phones of their parents or guardians, and they can access this content as per their convenience to continue learning.

Dinkar Patil, director, Maharashtra State Council for Educational Research and Training, that is overlooking the initiative, said, “The Diksha app already has nearly 9,000 different uploads for learning content. But to ensure that students follow the right sequence, we will share links from the app which would make it easy for them to access the content.” The links will be shared with the students through their class teachers.

The department is also working on the use of television and radio to air educational content for students who do not have access to smartphones. “MHRD’s Swayam channel will host this content for two hours in the morning and evening every day. We are working on the content and it should begin in a couple of days,” added Patil.

With the education department’s announcement of promoting students from Class 1 to 9 based on their previous scores, several teachers had raised concerns about learning coming to a standstill. The department has thus ensured that through online education, students stay in sync with studies even as they are at home.