Giridih district has set an example in educating government school students through cable television, a format which may soon be replicated across Jharkhand, state education minister Jagarnath Mahto said here on Tuesday.

Visiting Jamshedpur to review the online education on WhatsApp groups among students of government schools, Mahto said he had received complaints that a large number of students could not access digital content shared by the department of school education and literacy during the novel coronavirus lockdown.

Across the state, ever since the lockdown closed schools, digital learning became a buzzword among private schools. However, though the state prepared teaching content for government schoolchildren, their ground realities were very different.

Poor homes have no smartphone, and even if there is one, it is not given to children. Internet connection is non-existent or erratic in many homes. So, the government is trying to explore using cable television as a medium of teaching schoolchildren during the lockdown.

“I am visiting every district to understand the hurdles that districts are facing in the way of digital classes,” minister Mahto said at the Circuit House on Tuesday. “Now my department is toying with the idea of using cable or DTH networks such as Tata Sky as mediums. We are also in talks with Doordarshan. The best option will be used to impart education to children.”

He said that Giridih had already started the cable-television-class system. JMM MLA Sudivya Kumar Sonu tied up with the local cable operator to impart classes through cable television till July. The lessons started from Monday in the presence of the education minister and other MLAs and bureaucrats.

MLA Sonu had also requested local government and private school teachers to take lessons on cable TV to re-skill themselves, and about 60 teachers did.

Mahto said that though Giridih has successfully launched classes on cable TV, the education department was also exploring other platforms. “We will do the best for our children. After the lockdown we shall increase school hours and curb holidays to complete the syllabus,' said Mahto.

On the issue of private schools waiving fees as a relief for parents facing financial worries, Mahto said that he would decide on it after a high-level panel formed by him submits its report by this month-end.

Mahto has also asked education officials of each district for a survey on why private schools are preferred over government schools and submit a precise report to him.