Kochi: For the past one week, the passerby have been watching a morning sight beneath the Bolgatty-Vallarpadam bridge. A number of small coracles (locally called Kuttavanchi) are kept under the bridge and some women are cleaning fish near it. Seven children are studying in front of a laptop on the other side with three teachers helping them.
The headmistress and other teachers of St. John Bosco's UP School in High Court Road here, are visiting the children of migrant labourers residing under the bridge every day to help them study. The teachers bring drawing set so that the children do not get bored during the study hours. They also carry masks, biscuits and sweets for the young kids every day.
The teachers download the online classes telecast on Victers channel. With this, the children would not miss any class even though they watch the videos a day later. There are three children of class 7 and four children of class 1 here. Earlier, five families from Mysuru used to live here along with 10 school going children. Among them, three children returned to Mysuru with their families.
School headmistress Elizabeth Fernandez said that they started visiting the kids with a laptop and speaker after knowing that they do not have any facility for online class and are likely to discontinue studies. The children were spotted while taking the number of students who do not have access to online classes.
With this, the headmistress and other teachers Shamiya Baby, Neema Thomas and Susan Mable started visiting the children from June 2 onwards. They decided to teach the children as it seemed more effective than providing smart phone or television.
