A group of students of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur, is being trained in teaching young school students who cannot afford formal education during the pandemic.

These to-be teachers are attending an orientation course before they start lecturing students of Classes III to VIII as part of free tutorials from May 26. The tutorials will be held on digital platforms.

About 50 students of Vidyamandira are being guided by the two teachers of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Sargachhi, Behrampore, which runs a higher secondary school (from Class V to XII) and a primary school (from Class I to IV).

Jyotirmoy Bose, an MA student of Bengali at Vidyamandira, is being trained in teaching Bengali and history to school students. Sumit Roy, a third-year undergraduate student of Bengali, will teach environment to Class IV students.

Jyotirmoy said they were being taught at the orientation programme how to draw the attention of a school student towards a subject. “We have been told that when it comes to taking a class on a poem, we should present it through recitation so the student can immediately connect to it,” said Jyotirmoy.

Use of tools like powerpoint presentation and graphics will be part of the course.

“The teachers advised us to teach school students according to their mental make-up. We have to come down to their level to relate to them. Use of pictures, graphics and powerpoint presentations will help establish the connect,” Sumit said.

Mrinmoy Saha, one of the two teachers conducting the orientation programme, said they had told the students to pay attention to questions from young learners and answer them with patience.

“This helps a teacher earn the confidence of a student. But what is more important is to bring a variation to the way of teaching. Suppose, while talking about Murshidabad, which is a historical place, a Class V student must be told about the river Bhagirathi that flows past the town. This can be done through graphics or video. History will be combined with geography,” said Saha.

Swami Ekachittananda, the principal of Vidyamandira, said that for each class there would be a designated session on YouTube.

“We don’t want to compromise on quality when our students offer free tutorials. They must impart lessons to these kids in a very lucid way…. The orientation will arm 50 of our students who have been chosen for this mission with the necessary skills,” he said.

In Bengal, schools had resumed in-person classes for students of Classes IX to XII from February 12. The classes were discontinued on April 21 following a surge in Covid cases.

But students of Classes III to VIII have been away from schools since March 2020.