The covid-19 pandemic has affected every section of society, people of all age groups are affected. Many people lost their jobs, the economy came to a standstill, and various such issues. It is believed that with problems There comes a solution soon people start acclimatizing with the "new normal". The idea of work from home came into play and soon schools were turned online too.

Students are now educated online. Classes are held on online platforms such as zoom, Google meet and others. Therefore, to attend the classes, students must have a stable internet connection along with the device, for instance, a tablet or a smartphone or a laptop to connect with the classes.

These devices are comparatively expensive and sometimes students from rural sections are unable to afford them. Students often fail to attend the classes which are held online. Hence, they are missing out on classes at a very crucial age.

This issue is therefore very important to be addressed because it is directly affecting the future of the youth. Understanding the urgency of the situation, CFTI or Centre for Transforming India has come up with the solution to distribute tablets (smart gadgets) to the students living in rural areas under the "school on tab" initiative.

CFTI or Centre for Transforming India is an organisation that works for the empowerment of rural areas and the factors related to it. This organisation simultaneously runs various programs such as distribution of bicycles, distribution of tablets and others. CFTI believes that there should be no gap between the people living in urban areas and the ones living in rural areas. They have introduced various poverty elevating schemes to help people living in rural areas and to upgrade the standard of living. There are schemes related to education, farming, food and medicine, economic opportunities and others.

Beneficiary stories:

Help to Naba Basar's children

Naba Basar was abandoned by her husband. She has three children, Shubhan studying in class 5, Rinsha of class 3 and Sadik studying in class 1. She hardly earned 6000 rupees a month and therefore it was difficult for her to buy gadgets for her children to attend the online classes. As Naba could not afford gadgets for her children's online classes therefore the children missed many of their classes which were held online. They missed classes for almost 6 months. CFTI reviewed the situation and came to know that the children immediately needed help. They present the children with a tablet under the "school on tab" initiative. CFTI also contacted the school so that they can get back the lectures of six months which were missed by the children of Naba. Subhan, Rinsha and Sadik can now attend the classes which are being held online.

Help to Ishwari Shashikant Patil 

Ishwari Shashikant Patil is a student of the 10th standard. She studies in Marathi Medium school in a village named Kusumbale in Taluka district of Alibag. Ishwari has a keen interest in studying and thus she walks 2 km every day to reach her school. Ishwari's father is a tailor by occupation. He does not earn a huge sum and was unable to afford a gadget by which Ishwari could continue her online classes. There is not a single smartphone in Ishwari's house and thus she could not attend online classes which were held by her school. CFTI thus stepped in the matter and presented Ishwari with a tablet. With the help of the tablet, Ishwari can now attend the online classes which are held by her school.

The help just not was limited to Naba Basar's children or Ishwari Shashikant Patil but many other children are benefited under the "school on tab" initiative of CFTI. CFTI has till date distributed more than 700 tablets to children. This noble initiative of CFTI has played an important role in educating children in this tough time of the pandemic. CFTI prioritises education and they are doing everything possible from their end to help children who want to continue studying.

More than 27 % of school-going students are underprivileged and they cannot afford gadgets to attend online classes. CFTI, therefore, understands the seriousness of this situation and pledges to raise twelve crore rupees to distribute ten thousand tablets among the people in need. They want to focus on slum areas such as Parvati Slum, Dharavi Slum and others.