Bridging the gap: teachers visit families under a bridge to teach children

Teachers under the bridge coronavirus pandemic kids

By Fatima Virrey , Parent Herald Jul 16, 01:27 am

People all over the world are experiencing struggles brought by the coronavirus pandemic. This health catastrophe caused some to lose their jobs, others to lose loved ones.

In India, some migrant workers' homes are somewhat lost due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Migrant workers and their children were stranded under a bridge.

Because of this, a group of teachers had to step in. They became the heroes of education that the children need.

Getting stranded

Before the lockdown restriction, migrant workers were on their way home when they got stuck in Kerala's coastal state.

The workers and their families were forced to stay under the bridge of Bolgatty-Vallarpadan.

For months now, the families are living there, making ends meet.

Teachers help kids

After the teachers learned about the struggles of the families living under the bridge, they thought of helping them out.

The help came in the form of some supplies like masks and biscuits for the kids.

Aside from these, the students were taught a few lessons by the dedicated teachers.

When the Indian government announced that schools would conduct online classes, in the absence of face to face discussions, the teachers thought of the dire situation of the children under the bridge. They knew that there are kids who do not have access online, and because of the shift to online classes, there is a possibility that this would mean these students will have to stop studying.

The teachers, Shamiya Baby, Neema Thomas, and Susan Mable, are from St. John Bosco's UP School. They work an extra mile for the kids by downloading the lessons available online. They bring their laptops to the kids' temporary home and teach the children.

Through the help of this initiative from the teachers, the students can now keep up from the lessons.

Ten school-going children are living in that area.

The shift to online classes

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the education system has drastically changed. Instead of the usual face-to-face classes, schools had to look for alternatives like online classes.

However, since not all families have access to the Internet, this has caused problems for some. Some of these include access to the Internet and the equipment needed. Even the digital literacy of the parents and the students is a problem.

Educational institutions are trying to address this by exerting more effort to ensure that students are still provided with quality learning. Some studies suggest that students and their families should be provided with an option or a choice on how they would want to continue learning.

Although the coronavirus pandemic has changed the way of learning at the moment, education experts believe that this phase will also help in further improving the education system.