Andhra Pradesh govt switches to online education amid coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown

Amaravati: In the times when schools and colleges remain closed due to COVID-19 pandemic,  the Andhra Pradesh government has taken to online platforms to impart education. 

Chief  Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the officials to log into online courses. In order to ensure that the academic activities continue, the State has been conducting virtual classes using the Skype, Cisco, Teamlink, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.

In the time of lockdown, over 24,000 students and 933 teachers are taking part in the online classes, said the statement released by the state government. 

The statement further informed that those who have no reach to the online facility, lectures on various subjects are uploaded on YouTube and the links are being shared to enable the students to get the benefit. Lecture notes are also being shared through WhatsApp and e-mail for the convenience of students.  

Presently, 5979 classes have been organized covering various streams such as B. Tech, M. Tech, BA, MA, MCA, MBA and other disciplines. In order to maintain the balance in curriculum, the education institutions are also making efforts to complete the pending syllabus and engage students productively during this time of lockdown.

Andhra govt said that at a higher level, Universities are encouraging students to enroll for free online courses from platforms like Udemy, Coursera, etc and utilize resources like MOOC, SWAYAM, and NPTL too.

Doordarshan lessons are also being conducted for tenth class students which is telecasted daily two hours in the morning and evening. Radio broadcast is also being done on a daily basis. 

State govt has also curated app for online classes like self-learning app named Abhyasa which is having tenth class subject videos pooled from Dhiksha and objective type question papers were also posted for practice.

The Government plans to create a WhatsApp group at every school which will include Teachers and tenth class students.

Important practice questions will be posted daily on the TV/Radio lessons in these WhatsApp groups, where students can answer at their home and send photos of the answer sheet which can be evaluated and feedback will be given.

Webinar and pre-recorded videos in SCERT YouTube channel on questions and answers, discussion and keywords for each and every important topic will be available.
On the same lines, for all the lower classes during June and July, online classes will be telecast, broadcast and also will be posted in WatsApp groups.

Keping in mind the mental health of students and teacher the state has also organised counseling sessions which is being organised by some universities with the support of their Psychology Department to cater to the needs of the students and the society at large during these times to beat fatigue, despair and monotony.

Phone numbers for the counseling are posted on the University website. As of now, Sri Padmavati Mahila Vishvavidalayam, Adikavi Nannaya and Yogi Vemana University are offering counseling.