The Pandemic caused by COVID 19 has transformed the lives of people across the world and one of the most effected sector is education and the students. In India, reopening of schools remains a distant dream and thus online classes has taken up the front seat, but still, there are places were students do not have access to Internet and they are learning through Bluetooth “Bultoo ke Bol”.
On 15th of August 2020, Government of Chhattisgarh launched ‘Padhai Tuhar Para’ scheme to teach children with the help of community in their localities and villages. It is then CGNet Swara came up with “Bultoo ke bol” to support the government, which will help the children staying in areas where there is no mobile towers or internet access.
Bultoo ke Bol is a mobile bluetooth based programme that will be introduced in the remote areas of Chattishgarh for providing study materials to students, who do not have access to internet facility for online classes.
Speaking to News Sense, Peace Activist Shubranshu Chowdhury founder of CGNet Swara, the organization that runs mobile radio service, said “Bultoo means bluetooth; the people of the village are unable to pronounce bluetooth correctly hence the name bultoo. Villages, where signal is a major concern, in those areas education will be disseminated through bluetooth mobile.”
Through bultoo mobile, teachers will prepare their educational content and make digital files which can be shared via bluetooth. The bultoo mobile scheme has been a success in Bamragardh block of Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. These files can also be uploaded on the bultoo app or on whatsapp and then shared to others who do not have smart phones or access to the internet via bluetooth.
As only 10% of the villages in these area have internet connection. Some of them have smart phones and other normal phones which they use to share music with each other. The state government is requesting the teachers to travel to these places and to transfer these files to at least one parent.
The parent will then be responsible to share these files via bluetooth to five more parents and make sure that it reaches the students. The children can also record their questions which is later answered by the teachers and shared via bultoo radio. The State Education department has provided the list of volunteering for this initiative who can teach in Gondi language, the local dialect and other local languages to CGNet Swara.
CGNet Swara, started in the year 2009 has transformed how people in remote areas of India receive and share information. It allows people to share and receive information in local language. Bultoo Radio is the first community radio on mobile. It was founded to give voice to the people living in ravaged and neglected regions and continues to do so. They aim to work in other remote areas of the country where internet and connectivity is an issue and have been secluded from the rest.
