How a community radio station is helping educate students without smartphones

Radio Vishwas, a Community Radio Station (CRS) in Nashik district of Maharashtra, is bridging the education gap during the Covid-19 pandemic by educating students without smartphones.

Run by the Vishwas Dhyan Prabodhini and Research Institute, Radio Vishwas broadcast for 14 hours daily where audio lectures are aired and made accessible to all the students who study in Zilla Parishad and Nashik Municipal schools. The broadcast is done in various languages such as Hindi, English, Marathi, Sanskrit.

The CRS’ initiative 'Shikshan Sarvansathi' (Education for All) was launched in June 2020 to provide free education for students from class 3 to 10, during the difficult time of Covid-19. “These are for the students who are trapped in poverty and cannot afford smartphones for digital education,” Station Director, Dr Hari Vinayak Kulkarni, was quoted in a PIB statement.

The radio station has bagged two awards at the 8th edition of the National Community Radio Awards instituted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting - the first prize in the “Sustainability Model Awards” category and the second prize in the “Thematic Awards” category for its radio program 'Education for All' in the times of Covid-19.

The Station Director, Dr Hari Vinayak Kulkarni said the programme received a very positive response. “The lectures were then aired according to the slots allocated to each subject. The programme received a huge response from the targeted community; approximately 50,000 - 60,000 students of municipal and Zilla Parishad schools benefited from it,” he said.

Dr Kulkarni further informed that the lectures were also shared with six community radios in Maharashtra so that they too could broadcast through their radio channels. “We are glad that we could help students from all over Maharashtra as six community radios approached us to share this content to broadcast in their respective cities”.

‘Shikshan Sarvansathi’ project was implemented with the help of 150 teachers who recorded lectures in a studio. Dr Kulkarni also spoke about the initiatives being taken by teachers in distributing FM devices to students. “A group of teachers in Igatpuri taluka of Nashik distributed 451 FM devices (inclusive of USB, bluetooth, high-end speakers) to students to ensure that they don't miss out on the current syllabus. Teachers are also planning to upload it on YouTube, which can also be used when normal schooling begins.”

Speaking about the various programs being broadcast through the CRS, he told about how the programme 'Shahri Parasbaag' (Kitchen Garden) helped in increasing awareness about environment conservation. “The complete process right from seed availability till planting the sapling is provided to our audience in this program,” he said. 'Mala Aavadlela Pustak' (about favourite books to read) and 'Jaaniv Samajktechi' ( focused on difficulties faced by senior citizens) are programmes targeted to cover a wide range of audiences.