A statewide survey of 'First Bell,' the online classes for school children done using Kite-Victers Channel, has found that 77 percent of kids were finding it hard to comprehend one or more subjects. The survey was carried out by Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP), a Left-leaning science movement.

According to the KSSP study, there are two main reasons for low comprehension. The speed of teaching and the difficulty the students faced in completing the notes dictated. For 10 per cent, the style of teaching also stands in the way of proper comprehension.

To the Kerala government's credit, it has succeeded to a great extent through a participatory effort to give kids nearly 90 per cent access to online education. Still, the availability of modern communication tools like television, mobile phones and internet connectivity alone are not enough to ensure proper education. The students should also be able to comprehend what the teacher was communicating.

Only 23 per cent of the children surveyed said they had no problem in understanding any of the subjects taught. The rest have serious trouble understanding one or more subjects.

“The objective of online classes should be to sustain children's interest in learning and not rushing through topics to mechanically complete the portions within a specific period of time,” the KSSP study noted.

Here are the subjects in ascending order of their difficulty: Social Science, Science, English and Mathematics. Understandably, Malayalam was the easiest to comprehend.

The KSSP adopted 'purposive random sampling' method for the survey so that children from all backgrounds - including OBC, SC, ST, coastal, high range and BPL categories - could be included. Information was collected from a total of 1,252 students, 10,46 teachers and 1,340 parents in all the 14 districts in Kerala. Apart from asking the participants to fill Google forms, focus group discussions were also held on online platforms.

Crash courses for kids

"The present syllabus was drawn up to be taught in physical classrooms, where teachers and students come face to face, over an extended period of time. However, under the online class system, the time a teacher gets to dwell on a particular subject is highly curtailed," the report said.

This need to cover the entire syllabus in a short span of time, the study said, is unnecessarily taxing the kids, and unfair too. "So after the daily Victers classes, it is important that their own class teachers intervene to make the portions taken on the day clearer to the students," the report sad.

It was found that only 23 per cent of students surveyed get such 'after-class' help. "The others attempt to catch up on the day's lessons by watching a repeat telecast of the classes or reading the textbook or searching for the topics on the internet with the help of family members," the KSSP study said.

There are also problems with doing the 'homework' given daily. Poor connectivity is one; 32 per cent of students surveyed suffered from this. Lack of clarity on what the teacher had presented in class and also the absence of reference materials on many topics were also pointed out as stumbling blocks.

Teacher troubles

The feedback given by teachers was also found to be not enough. Teachers cannot be blamed as many of them in high schools have to provide feedback to hundreds of students, the study said.

Teachers also have been saddled with heavy responsibilities: they have to watch the online classes, provide support classes, give homework, correct them when they are returned, and then will have to offer feedback.

The study also noted that the script for the Victers classes should be sent to teachers at least two days in advance so that they would have enough time to prepare.

Broken classes

Only 67 per cent of students picked by the study could attend all classes that begin on June 1 without a break. Others could follow the online classes only partially.

Poor internet connectivity was the biggest hurdle to uninterrupted online learning, 39.5 per cent. This was mostly experienced in the high ranges and tribal areas in Kerala.

Absence of the internet was the next big cause, 17 per cent. The third reason that stood in the way of internet access is the lack of smartphone in the house (14.5 per cent).

The issues that alienated poor and underprivileged kids from online classes are: inadequate phone memory, parents leaving homes during online class hours with the only mobile phone available, the need to do other jobs during class hours and gadget illiteracy.

Problem of plenty

Even in homes where internet connectivity is reasonably good, the presence of more than one school-going kids pose a problem. As many as 76 per cent of parents surveyed have more than one school-going kid at home. This forces students to share the only or limited phone available, leading to all of them missing certain class portions a day.

Majority of the students surveyed said they missed friends and direct communication with teachers. “Higher classes should be opened putting in place social distancing and sanitation norms,” the study has recommended. The government, however, has already ruled this out.