This year has been a rather strange year. The grown-ups are having a tough time and yes, so are the young ones. No playing out with friends may be very frustrating but for many children, getting the relevant school books for the year has been an experience they would like to forget. Study books are just not available with the virus placing a spoke in the wheels. With many schools having taken recourse to conduct classes online the need for textbooks was keenly felt.
Morena
Miranda, Principal at the Government High School in Morpila said “we collected
textbooks from the students who moved a class above and gave them to the
students coming in. We have class from the 5th standard to the
10th. We were able to provide books for most of our students this
way though I will admit it was a bit of a problem in the 5th standard
because we had a rush of students in that classroom”.
Deepika
Tambat from the Viscount of Pernem High school said they took books from the previous
year and for a few, she in fact gave online books.
However,
Natasha Wheeler who is a teacher at a private school in Porvorim said they did
not have any problems. She said “All our kids had textbooks. We had placed
orders before the pandemic. One or two books are still a problem but the
teacher has the course so she helps them”.
In
Saligao a commendable initiative was launched by a book store. The book
store in the area is collecting old school books from parents for free and is
distributing it to parents who have not been able to get the books for the
academic year also for free.
Melicio
Fernandes of The Write Shop said the idea for this initiative came from several
parents who would visit his book shop which sells stationary. He said “ If you
have any old textbooks of Goa Board from Std l to Std 10, please drop it at our
shop. (The Write shop, Saligao). This year due to COVID19 Pandemic, there is a
huge shortfall of textbooks as a result of which the students & teachers
are facing hardships. So, we urge the Parents & the Students to kindly drop
all your old textbooks at our shop so that we can pass on the same to the needy
students (Free of Cost)”.
The
response he said had been good with more than a hundred books donated and given
out. The start of online classes had ensured that the response from parents was
good. He said parents requested him to initiate this and he placed the appeal
on Facebook and other platforms. Melicio said he was also aware of the
problems because he would hear the complaints when he attended the PTA meeting
at one of the schools He said he hoped everyone would get the books necessary
for the year.
One can only hope that dream of his comes true and no parent or child will have to face the challenges of the academic year without the necessary books.