The Project

Without even a moment’s notice, the world had to make a drastic shift from offline to online in order to survive. But this change wasn’t easy for everyone and took a toll on the teachers and students alike. This is especially true when there is a lack of the necessary infrastructure to make the switch. The NGO wanted the students to continue learning and since the 10th grade is such a crucial academic year and math is a challenging subject, they posted this project.

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The Journey

As with every project, the need for planning was critical. The initial call with the NGO was where the volunteers were oriented with what their target was, after which they were left on their own to strategize their way forward. The first meeting’s minutes that the volunteers kept helped them devise a plan for the project. They noted that their job was to teach 8 chapters and a few important board exam questions. They divided the number of chapters equally, 4 each, along with the board exam questions. Likewise, they estimated 1 month per chapter with the important questions in between to be able to finish the portion on time. They used the tracker provided by Proengage to stay on track.

Once they had a plan, the volunteers got straight to work. As a result of dividing their work, there was not much of an overlap in their schedules, and thus, no need for regular meetings. However, they would still meet at least once a month to discuss their progress. 

Moksith recalls being very nervous for his first session, as he hadn’t taught an entire class before, but Mrunal took up the first session and guided Moksith throughout the program. 

Both the volunteers made it a point to follow up with the project coordinator if they found students being absent from classes. But their motivation to continue on the project was four students who were very proactive during the classes.

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Challenges faced

The project, on the whole, had no major roadblocks, and had there been any, the volunteers managed to resolve their problems quickly. For Mrunal, The timings of the sessions that she was initially given weren’t a good fit, but a conversation with the project coordinator fixed her timings. For Moksith, drawing diagrams and explaining on the computer at the same time was tricky. He decided to improvise and keep the diagrams ready to be added to the document during his session. 

The number of students attending the session in the middle dropped significantly, and the volunteers wanted to understand why that was happening. Upon inquiry, the volunteers were told that the students had a few personal issues and thus, couldn’t make it to class. 

Due to the lack of technological devices, many students weren’t able to attend classes. Their backgrounds clubbed with having either single parents or both working parents, they seldom had access to a smartphone to study. Out of 24 students, a few were regularly absent from class due to such circumstances.