When the government decided to turn to online classes in view of COVID-19, Sikha Suresh, a Class 8 student of Government Durga Vilasini Higher Secondary School, Charamangalam, was far from enthused. Her family did not have a smartphone to access the online lessons and her parents, one a construction worker and another an Anganwadi helper, were not in a position to buy one after the pandemic-induced lockdown took a toll on the family’s finances.

But she did not miss a lesson when the classes restarted on the virtual platform on Monday; the Kanjikuzhy grama panchayat has provided Sikha and similar indigent students in the area with smartphones. “When I came to know that classes would go virtual, I felt a bit disappointed. But the panchayat gave me a smartphone. I attended the physics class taken by my teacher through a videoconferencing app on Monday. I also downloaded the KITE Victers application,” says Sikha, who hails from Kootuveli at Kanjikuzhy. Her mother, Sunitha Suresh, thanked the panchayat authorities for the gesture, which allows her two children, the youngest a Class 3 student, to continue their studies.

Fund from mask sale

M.G. Raju, president, Kanjikuzhy grama panchayat, says the local body will provide smartphones to 72 students.

“We have identified 72 students who do not have smartphones or television sets at home. We are giving them phones priced around ₹5,000,” he says.

The panchayat bought the phones using the money it received from the sale of more than a lakh masks.