Odisha Permits Visually-Impaired Teachers to take Online Classes from their Home

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Odisha Higher Education Department Secretary Saswat Mishra wrote a letter to all degree college principals asking them to allow visually-impaired teachers to take online classes from the comfort of their homes.

At present, all the teachers report to their respective state colleges and conduct online classes from college premises. However, it is not feasible for visually challenged teachers to commute to colleges, also the availability of public transport is scarce. Looking at their struggle and risk of COVID-19 spread, the Odisha government has decided to remove the restraints for visually impaired teachers.

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The letter by Saswat Mishra read, "In continuation of the letter under reference, the Government is pleased to allow the visually impaired teachers to take online classes from their residence till resumption of normalcy in COVID-19. They are not required to come to college to take online classes."

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Online Classes Schedule
Odisha teachers currently take online classes three days a week on various digital platforms. Each class is held for 2-3 hours duration.

As per reports, around 22 lakh students are availing e-education and 38 lakh students are still deprived of resources to avail the online education. A plan has been proposed by Samir Ranjan according to which state teachers will reach out to the remote areas with poor connectivity and teach the students at their home.

The teachers earlier alleged that the colleges lack devices and means to conduct online classes. One of the state teachers said, "Smartphones get hot as classes are conducted for more than 2 hours and there are apprehensions that they may explode." At first, teachers also opposed the government's decision to visit the college for taking classes.

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