Maharashtra: Zilla Parishad teacher conducts free online classes for poor kids

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic when underprivileged children are deprived of proper education due to the closure of schools, a 45-year-old teacher of a Zilla Parishad school in Latur has taken the initiative of conducting free online classes for them. Nearly 150 students of Classes 5 to 9 from various districts in Maharashtra are now regularly attending Sainath Mane's online session which he has been conducting along with other teachers since seven months at Bujrugwadi village in Nilanga tehsil.

"Many poor students were worried about their education after the schools were closed. I initially started online classes for students of our school only. These children told other students also about the initiative. Now, students from various districts like Nanded, Beed, Nashik, Sindhudurg, Pune and Mumbai join my classes regularly," Mane told PTI.

The classes are held for about three and a half hours every day. A half-an-hour session is dedicated only to teach them the English language, he said. "Within a short span, the students have now started speaking fluent English," Mane said.

To make the learning process interesting, Mane has included a yoga class, a value education class and multiple subjects study during the online sessions. "The parents of my students are happy. They even urged us to accept fees, but want the classes to continue. We don't expect anything from them as our aim is ensure overall development of the students," he said.