From books to gadgets, heres how teachers are overcoming barriers during pandemic

Teachers’ Day will be celebrated on 5 September is celebrated on the birth anniversary of former President of India Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who was the first vice president and the second president of India, and is remembered as a remarkable teacher and a great educationist. 

Since the pandemic forced all schools and colleges to close down, classes have moved online causing several problems to teachers. 

While many teachers have complained of major network issues, others have complained of finding it difficult to suddenly become tech-savvy and know all the details of virtual teaching.

Having said that, there have been inspiring stories that have come up during the lockdown which showed how some teachers have to overcome huge difficulties on a daily basis to do their jobs. One such teacher is Subrata Pati, a history teacher based in West Bengal. 

Every morning, the 35-year-old climbed up a neem tree near his house and parked himself on a makeshift wooden platform tied to the branches in order to receive uninterrupted signals on his phone which he uses to teach his students.

On another occasion, Mumbai based mathematics teacher Jeyaishwari R Nadar was in the news when a photo of her using a refrigerator tray to conduct a virtual class was widely shared on social media. She conducted classes with the mobile phone on a refrigerator tray, which in turn was balanced on two containers. 

Everyone knows that math teachers need the board to solve sums for the students, however virtual classes fail to replace the good old chalkboard, and teachers are left with few choices. Nadar told Indian Express, “I thought a transparent material would do the job, to keep my phone on it so that I can solve and explain the problems at the same time.”

It is because of the hard work and endless efforts from such teachers that students learn more than text-book lessons in schools.