Nearly 99.95% of State school students have access to online classes, Minister for General Education C. Ravindranath has said.

The Minister told The Hindu that only about 50 students remained without access.

Arrangements have been made for all students to view the classes through a common mechanism. If there were any students without access, teachers and Samagra Shiksha personnel would go to them with laptops till a permanent arrangement was made, he said.

“Access to classes for all is what we are aiming at. The Cabinet has approved a project, wherein the Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE) will provide 35,000 TV sets. This will help expand the arrangements,” the Minister said.

The Minister said from 2.6 lakh students without access to classes, the government had managed to bring down the number to 45 within two weeks with the support of MLAs, political formations, organisations, and others.

Repeat telecast

Repeat telecast of classes had been arranged. Downloaded content would be made available. Special classes would be held for those who could not understand the content. A project for children with special needs had been prepared. Classes for Tamil and Kannada medium students had been launched. All shortcomings were being addressed quickly,, Mr. Ravindranath said.

“It is no mean task to arrange online classes across the State within two weeks. Everyone will be covered without fail,” he said.

General Education Secretary A. Shajahan said any student without access to online classes should inform the school concerned.

The government had given directions that in areas, especially tribal areas, where there was no cable or dish connection or Internet connectivity, teachers would show students downloaded version of the classes. In some cases, even if facilities were available, children might not be able to view the classes owing to other reasons. Such students too should inform their class teacher or head teacher so that the matter could be addressed.

If follow-up by teachers after every telecast was not happening for some reasons, including connectivity issues, students should get in touch with the school authorities who would find a solution to the problem.

If they still found themselves deprived of the classes, students should get in touch with local self-government institutions, the Minister said. “Various systems are in place. If there are complaints, it will be addressed. Our aim is all students should have access to classes,” the Minister said.