A Tamil teacher at S Kunathur Government Higher Secondary School in Gingee, Hemalatha, has come up with an innovative idea to help students learn from home amid the pandemic. For the academic year, Hemalatha has saved all her video lessons in pen drives so that children who do not have access to the internet can also get her lessons.

“Due to the pandemic, students are staying away from schools and I was afraid that my students, who belong to rural areas, would forget their syllabus as the pandemic hasn’t entirely ended yet,” The New Indian Express quoted Hemalatha as saying.

In order to ensure that students who do not have access to the internet are not left behind. Hemalatha saved her virtual classes, covering all 53 chapters and six essays of her Tamil subject, in 30 pen drives. She distributed these directly to the students.

For the teacher, the old saying ‘where there is a will there’s a way’ came true when Shahil Hameed, a former student and robotic engineer, began helping her with the graphic designing of the lessons. 

Explaining her rationale, she says, “In most rural areas like our village, students mostly lack internet access. Further, they can use these USB drives anywhere by accessing a laptop, which must be available with college students in their areas.”

In 2020, Hemalatha received the Best Teacher Award from the State government.