GUWAHATI: The Assam Education Department through a notification has instructed its teachers to use WhatsApp to impart lessons to students, according to a web news report by The Hindu. Teachers have been told to create WhatsApp groups involving guardians where assignments and lessons can be shared. This has been done keeping in mind the preventive shutdown of schools due to the Coronavirus disease.
“The Education Department has felt that the closure period of schools may create learning gaps among children and there may be possibility of dropout of children from schools… As per initiatives proposed by the Department, the heads of the institutions/teachers of the schools will open a WhatsApp group with parents/guardians,” an official statement said.
The department on March 20 asked the teachers to provide “necessary learning support through phone-based learning material”.
According to officials of the education department this step was taken as the preventive shutdown of government schools due to Coronavirus disease could lead to dropouts. Also, this might help plug the learning gaps, said the web report by The Hindu.
“Other free technologies like Google Classroom, etc., should be explored in future and feedback of the same needs to be shared with the Education Department,” the statement by Assam Education Department said.
READ MORE: Coronavirus | Impart lessons to students via WhatsApp, Assam teachers told
