Students of Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur, will offer free tutorials to underprivileged students of Classes IX to XII, who have not been attending school because of the Covid pandemic.

The classes will be held on digital platforms.

The registration process started on Thursday and will go on till May 24.

A notice signed by Swami Shastrajnananda, the principal of the college, said: “In order to help you with your academic studies amidst the pandemic, the Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur, is offering free online classes for students studying from Class 9 to 12 in these tough times. The students of our college have enthusiastically come forward and volunteered themselves to teach you all.”

In Bengal, schools affiliated to the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education had resumed in-person classes for students of Classes IX to XII from February 12. But the classes were suspended on April 21 following the state government’s decision to bring forward the summer vacation because of the pandemic.

A monk of the college said they decided to offer free tutorials to students of these four classes because students of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur, will offer free tutorials to underprivileged students of Classes III to VIII. Students of these classes, too, have not attended school since March 2020 because of the pandemic.

The free classes to be conducted by students of both colleges will start on May 26.

The link for registration for classes to be conducted by students of the Narendrapur college is https:// forms.gle/ZZwajrcExVUJ8zv56.

The notice said there will be four classes each day — two in the morning, from 8am to 10am, and two in the evening, from 7pm to 9pm. Classes will be held five days a week, from Monday to Friday, and are likely to be conducted on YouTube.

An official of the college said about 60 students of the college — undergraduate and postgraduate — have volunteered to take classes. Undergraduate students from second year have enlisted their names.

An official of the college said the objective was to help the underprivileged students who could not afford private tuition to compensate for the absence of in-person classes because their families’ financial constraints had worsened during the pandemic.

Asked whether the students who have volunteered for the service would be groomed on how to teach, a monk of the college who is coordinating the initiative said a section of students periodically taught students of Narendrapur Blind Boys’ Academy.

“They have a fair idea about the syllabus. Still, if they need any guidance, we will offer that,” he said. The classes will be offered only to boys.

“That is what we have decided initially,” said a college official. The class timetable and other details such as links will be sent to the registered students.

School students attending the classes can interact with the teachers by typing their queries in a “chatbox”.

Students of the college are attending classes on online platforms from home as a precaution against Covid.

“By teaching the senior school students, students of the college can expand their domain knowledge further,” said a teacher.

Safe home

Gouranga Bhavan, a boys’ hostel of the college, will be converted into a 100-bed safe home for Covid patients in cooperation with Rajpur Sonarpur municipality.

The patients at the isolation facility will be admitted under the supervision of the health and family welfare department.

“We will provide oxygen support to the extent possible. Meals for the patients will come from our kitchen. Doctors, nurses, medicines and other emergency support will be provided by the government,” said Swami Sarvalokananda, the secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur.