YouTube professor comes to rescue of students

SRIKAKULAM: Dr Jagadeesh Kakarla, a young teacher, has turned his house into a studio where he makes academic videos for engineering students and job aspirants and uploads them on YouTube. His videos, which cover know-how of various programming languages and networking, are free to watch.Jagadeesh, a resident of Srikakulam town, works as an assistant professor in the department of computer science and engineering in a centrally-funded institute in Chennai. 

After losing his father at the age of eight, he and his mother Damayanthi survived on his father’s pension. He completed his primary education in Telugu medium, and then BTech from GVP Visakhapatnam. After completing  MTech in Pondicherry University, he finished his PhD in NIT-Rourkela. He has worked in Rajasthan Central University and IIITDM, Kancheepuram. 

At a time when the whole country was beginning to grapple with the Covid pandemic and nation-wide lockdown, he started a YouTube channel, which he named after his three-year-old Parnika, in May 2020 to share knowledge on computer science and information technology with students pursuing engineering, MCA and MSC courses or are preparing for entrance tests for higher education and job opportunities. At his studio, he plays multiple roles. After filming himself, he also edits the videos on his own and uploads them on his channel, Parnika Tutorials. He records his classes early in the morning to not disturb his infant daughter. 

Among other subjects, he has so far uploaded 830 videos on C programming, data structures, database management systems, theory of computation, compiler design, computer networks, computer organisation, digital logic design, and analysis of previous exam papers of DRDO, ISRO and multinational companies such Wipro and Capgemini. With a subscriber strength of 5,400, he gets around 2.5 lakh views from across 36 countries. He also clears doubts in the Youtube comment section and e-mail. 

Parnika Tutorials has become an asset for computer science and IT students who are not able to attend online classes due to their financial problems or poor internet connectivity. The channel has been proving useful for those from poor and middle-class preparing for competitive exams such as Gate, UGC NET, ISRO, DRDO, but are unable to take admission to coaching centres. 

Jagadeesh says: “I lost my father when I was in class 3, and we survived on his pension. As a student from a middle-class and rural background, I understand the problems of many who cannot pay fees to coaching centres, especially in a pandemic. In rural areas, internet connectivity is a big issue. The plight of such students made me start my own online classes.” “After watching my videos and the response they had from the students, some educational institutions approached me and asked the copyright to my videos by offering huge sums of money. However, I turned them down. As a student from rural background and poor financial status, I feel it is my responsibility to help poor students during pandemic.”