For a bunch of children of Kolkata, it was a much-cherished taste of freedom from the digital divide, as they receive free handsets and data cards to access online classes e-learning. A report for Different Truths.
With the Independence Day celebrations round the corner, it was a dream come true moment for a bunch of children. They were from financially struggling quarters of the city. And they gathered at the Police library at Ripon Street. And they were handed smartphone devices and free data packs by the top officials of Kolkata Police, on the ceremonial inauguration of an initiative to support children with access to online education.
The tripartite initiative… collaboratively designed and implemented by Kolkata Police, CRY – Child rights and You and Bharti Airtel.
The tripartite initiative, namely #PoraShunoCholteyThak (#SikshaNahiRukegi – Education will not stop), collaboratively designed and implemented by Kolkata Police, CRY – Child rights and You and Bharti Airtel. It would ensure that children coming from financially disadvantageous families and struggling with access to digital learning, will be provided with smartphone devices and customised free data packs. Thus, they are empowered to access online education in the testing times of the Covid pandemic.
Smartphone Helps
“It was extremely difficult for me to keep up with studies as I didn’t have a smartphone of my own and couldn’t follow the lessons. I could not access worksheets given by our teachers. Now that I have a smartphone, it will help me to catch up with day-to-day classes and continue my studies,” said a beaming Papiya (name change to protect identity), a student of class 10 at a school in Behala, staying at Taratala CPT Colony – as she received a brand-new handset and data card from Soumen Mitra, the Commissioner of Kolkata Police.
“…things will change as far as attending online classes and taking exams are concerned.”
Selina (name changed to protect identity), a girl from the same locality and a student of 12th standard at a local school, echoed Diya. With a twinkle of joy in her eyes, she said, “From now on, our performances at exams won’t have to suffer only because of not being gifted with a handset and data connectivity. From tomorrow, things will change as far as attending online classes and taking exams are concerned.”
She looks happy today, as having a phone at her disposal will help her attend classes regularly.
Tiasha (name changed to protect identity), a girl of 11th standard in a South Kolkata school said, “We have only one smart phone, but I cannot access it, as my mother used to take the phone to her work. So, I could not attain my online classes every day, and missed my activity tasks given at school.” She looks happy today, as having a phone at her disposal will help her attend classes regularly.
Kolkata Police’s Initiative
Commenting on the initiative, Soumen Mitra IPS, the Commissioner of Kolkata Police said, “This is a small attempt on behalf of KP to ensure that school going children, especially those in their adolescent years, belonging to families that cannot afford the digital access to learning do not fall prey to frustration and resultant susceptibility to crime – both as victims as well as perpetrators.”
“During the pandemic, Kolkata Police has been relentlessly trying to work closely with community people and trying to help them in many ways….”
“During the pandemic, Kolkata Police has been relentlessly trying to work closely with community people and trying to help them in many ways. It was at such a time the path-breaking idea of bridging the digital gap for underprivileged children came up from one of our very senior officers, and we didn’t wait to take it up,” he added.
Mitra thanked Airtel and CRY for partnering with them in this initiative. And he wished that this could change children’s lives by helping them continue with their education.
Other top rung officials of Kolkata Police present in the ceremony included the Special Commissioner of Kolkata Police Smt. Damayanti Sen; Additional Commissioners Tanmoy Roychowdhury and Bastav Baidya; Joint Commissioners V. Solomon Neshakumar, Sayed Waquar Raja, Akhilesh Chaturvedi, Sudheer N, Santosh Pandey, D Banerjee, and Sujay Chanda; and Deputy Commissioner of Police (STF) Aparajita Rai.
Airtel is proud to be a part of this unique initiative with Kolkata Police and CRY…
Underscoring the importance of online education, Siddharth Sharma, CEO – West Bengal & Odisha, Bharti Airtel said, “The scope of e-learning is enormous and provides every student with equal access to various educational opportunities. Airtel is proud to be a part of this unique initiative with Kolkata Police and CRY ensuring adequate access to education for underprivileged children during this pandemic.”
Long-term Impacts
Highlighting the long-term impacts of loss of education, Mohua Chatterjee, Programme Head for CRY Operations in Eastern India said, “This partnership aims to link the children with education and help in realising their dreams in future. At CRY we believe that children should enjoy their childhood and they realize their full potential to fulfil their dreams. This programme will not only link the children with education, it will also ensure that they are not engaged in child labour or get married off under-age. Our aim is to keep the children safe and free from any abuse and ensure an enabling environment to learn and grow.”
“We are immensely happy to have joined hands with both Kolkata Police and Bharti Airtel in this initiative. This is just the beginning of the journey together with the Kolkata police. We are grateful to them and all the people who have come forward to support the cause,” Mohua added.
Children’s Challenges
Prolonged closure of schools to curb the spread of the pandemic has posed a mountain of challenges to the school-going children in the country, and while both Union and the State governments have come forward in taking timely measures to ensure that children are not left out of education, low penetration of internet and access to smartphones has hampered online education for close to one and half years now.
… the current collaborative initiative aims to engage children in education and other allied co-curricular activities…
Keeping this in mind, the current collaborative initiative aims to engage children in education and other allied co-curricular activities through bringing online education to their doorsteps.
The bucket of activities under the initiative includes identifying the children, which has already been done, from five Police Stations within the city. Close to 50 children have received mobile phones with 3 months data pack today, and in due course 300 children will be reached out in the first phase of the initiative.
Tracking Children
Further, CRY will support Kolkata police in tracking children for online classes and ensure that they are able to make use of the device and the data for their learning thereby, create an enabling learning environment for children to continue education and not engage in labour, early marriage, or trafficking, and work closely with families and other government stakeholders to ensure a safe environment for children.
Photos by CRY
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