The 4th objective of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal, that aspires to “Epromote lifelong learning”. The goal directs that by 2030, all children have access to free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education inclusive and quality education for all and education which will lead to relevant and effective learning outcomes and literate society boosting the overall morale. Q
uality education is the foundation of sustainable development. The future talent who will build the modern India remains scattered/ undiscovered in the rural sector. Despite all the efforts aimed at increasing access to education facilities, the rural students of India have limited access to learning modes and teachers. TEACHER ON CALL
Mehak, a class VII student from a village has a query in her Science textbook. She is unable to get herself clarified as her teacher is unavailable and her parents are illiterate. In such an instance Mehak is given a mobile phone with voice, pic SMS and spotty data facility and she can call the educational helpdesk at Sahaj Path Knowledge Foundation, who will connect her to the volunteer teachers who are available at that point of time. Mehak gets connected to one of them, Anita from “Sahaj Path” who is an educated housewife living in Kolkata with free time at hand and a willingness to help the society. Anita is able to clarify the doubts of Mehak in Bengali over the phone. With the advancements in technology, if villages in such remote areas could get access to the internet which is user friendly as well as pocket friendly with an additional feature of portability, then children like Mehak can utilize this facility to access online courses in Bengali with video clips. Infinite are the possibilities to have class room beyond school for those who cannot afford expenses for private tution.