The Education Ministry started handing out the first volume of Self Instructional Materials (SIM) since 25th April to engage students who do not have access to television or the internet. SIM is the printed version of the lessons covered for students from classes PP to XII that are broadcast on BBS.
The SIM lessons are divided into five volumes and students are expected to begin with the first volume by 2nd May.
As per assessment carried out by the ministry, there are around 17,000 students across the country who do not have access to BBS e-learning programmes or the internet. It has been a month since the Education Ministry started broadcasting lessons on BBS. But it’s been difficult for students in rural areas to access lessons without facilities.
Karma Tshering, the officiating secretary for the Education Ministry said SIM is distributed so as not to leave any children or students behind. “We are trying to reach them through print lessons, that is whatever lessons broadcast through BBS, we developed into SIM which is called Self Instructional Materials. So through this, the children would be able to learn on their own,” he said.
The ministry found that those in the lower classes especially classes PP to III would find it difficult to use the SIM. Therefore, the ministry is partnering with Kuzoo FM and BBS radio to reach out to these students.
“So to provide additional support to this group of students, we have now partnered with BBS radio and Kuzoo FM to record the SIM lessons and then broadcast simultaneously. When the learning takes place through print, at the same time, it will be supported through this radio education,” the officiating secretary said.
In addition to this, the ministry is also planning to deploy teachers to help the PP students continue their education through SIM.
“For these children, we are trying to help them by sending some teachers and district education officers and even some government officials in the local government to guide them and support them and monitor so that learning also takes place there as well,” he added.
There are more than 166,000 students in the country as reflected in the Annual Education Statistics 2019.
Sonam Pem
