Chhattisgarh: How this Indian state is fuelling growth in the ed-tech domain
Today, we live in a fast-paced, tech-driven world, wherein all domains of our lives are governed by technology including education. In fact, the post-COVID era technology has become the key driving force in this domain, thanks to hybrid mode of learning. It not only focusses on academic growth of students but also the development of New-age life skills.
One such new age skill is coding that also happens to be the cornerstone of tech-led education. Taking this into account, HT School is back with the second edition of Hindustan Times Code-a-thon 2022. Deemed as one of the largest coding Olympiads in India, this Pan India online contest will be an ideal platform for all budding coders from grades 4 to 9 to learn the basics of coding, improve their coding skills and earn lucrative prizes worth INR 5 lakhs on the way. It will have two rounds, the Qualifiers that is to be held on 18th February and the Finale that is scheduled for 26th February. Registrations worth INR 499 (plus GST) will remain open till 5th February on the official website.
HT Code-a-thon 2022 has the Chhattisgarh Government as its presenting partner. Shares his view on this, the Honourable Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Sri Bhupesh Baghel says, “A platform like HT Code-a-thon garners inclusivity through healthy competition as well as personal and adaptive learning. We at Chhattisgarh Government are always looking forward to associate ourselves with such innovative and interactive initiatives; which is why we are proud to join hands with Hindustan Times for HT Code-a-thon 2022-23. Coding is a vital skill in this tech-driven age and we hope that this coding Olympiad inspires students to use technology to advance their academic and professional lives, besides giving them the opportunity to develop new age life skills such as collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, innovation and emotional intelligence.”
It isn’t the first time that Chhattisgarh Government has joined hands in an ed-tech initiative like HT Code-a-thon 2022. In fact, the government has been proactively involved in this domain since a long time. Here is a bird’s eye view of a few of the significant moves taken by the Chhattisgarh Government in furthering the growth of tech-led education.
Padhai Tunhar Duvaar
A digital platform named ‘Padhai Tunhar Duvaar’ (PTD) or ‘Education at your doorstep’ is a post-covid initiative that largely focusses on hybrid mode of education. The goal of this venture is to connect students and teachers virtually and provide them with continued access to high quality education from the comforts of their homes.
As part of this flagship initiative, students can access live classes, offline video lectures, simulations, animations, worksheets, podcasts and more. So far, more than 45000 virtual schools have been set up that operate on a daily basis where students not only attend classes but are also given homework for non-stop learning. For those who don’t have internet can also be a part of audio bridge classrooms and learn via landlines and feature phones. One can also access the lectures (in Hindi and English) from the YouTube channel called PTD Chhattisgarh, including students of other states.
The forum also has crowd sourced content from NGOs and teachers that are acquired free of cost and uploaded on the portal. So far, more than 18000 audio video content and hundreds of image-based contents have been made available. Additionally, there are also 1500 plus hours of live lectures from 13000 plus sessions for grades 1 to 12. When in doubt, students can also ask questions on the e-learning platform which are responded within 48 hours. Another significant feature of PTD is the ‘motor iskool’ that aims to provide face to face learning (teachers travel to the homes of students) to those located in the remotest locations. In this regard, ‘loudspeaker schools’ also deserve a mention. They ensure community education in rural Chhattisgarh where teachers use loudspeakers to spread audio lessons. In areas lacking internet connectivity, there’s also ‘Bultoo’ or sharing audio lessons via Bluetooth, that is seen across rural Chhattisgarh. Moreover, in order to facilitate peer learning among teachers, professional learning communities or PLCs have been set up with 80 to 100 teachers in one community. So far, there are 5400 plus PLCs in the state. Last but not the least, several gamified learning and assessment solution providers have been established to encourage students learn through gaming.
DIKSHA
Prior to the Covid-19 lockdown, in 2018, the Chhattisgarh Government had also launched the DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) programme. As part of this, 67 textbooks of grades 1 to 12 contained 4300 plus QR codes. Students can scan the codes and get instant access to related content, almost like reference reading that happens in libraries. Apart from this, students can also practise assessment questions and identify gaps in their knowledge and improve them simultaneously from here.
DiGiDuniya
Following the success of DIKSHA, the Chhattisgarh Government has also set up the DiGiDuniya initiative that focused on establishing Integrated Computer Labs and Smart/ Digital Classrooms in schools by using Information Communication Technology or ICT in education. The goal was to improve the teaching-learning approach through the use of technology and make the new age kids future ready for competitive exams and job opportunities. So far, 10 lakh students spread across 4330 schools have benefitted from it and have had access to personalised and adaptive leaning and assessments.