Seeing his son get excited about online learning, Thu decided to register him for an English online class run by an overseas Vietnamese who teaches via Zoom.

Schools have reopened after almost a year and online classes are being conducted in tandem with classroom lectures for the convenience of all the students. But those attending the live streaming of the classroom sessions from the comfort of their homes are facing unique problems. Since classroom windows are kept open for ventilation, the sunlight falling on the blackboard makes it difficult for online students to read what is written on it.

“Besides, poor internet connectivity hampers the classroom sessions and the teachers are caught between complaints from students in the class and those attending lectures from home,” said a student. To make matters worse, the teachers have stopped uploading study material online like they used to previously since the classes are live-streamed. So in case online students miss out on a few points due to bad internet connection, they do not have an uploaded material to refer to.

parent of a Class 7 student. Fr Xavier Amalraj, the principal of St Xavier’s Loyola, told Mirror that after the parents approached him, the school has started finding ways to control the lighting in the classrooms, something they did not think of in pre-Covid times.

“We are covering window panes with paper shields so that sunlight is not reflected on to the blackboard,” he said.

Asked about the issue of uploading study material online, he said, “Live streaming is the only way both online and offline classes can be conducted simultaneously. If online classes are held the way they used to be, teachers will struggle with conducting separate lectures,” he said.

Even though the state education department has allowed schools to conduct offline classes, very few parents have been sending their kids to school due to fear of Covid-19. Teachers, on the other hand, complain that it gets difficult for them to conduct interactive sessions with the class split into online and offline sections.

“About 99% of the times our attention is on the students in front of our eyes and so those online students remain a neglected lot. But one has to conduct classes both online and offline since very few parents are sending their kids to school. So, students are at a disadvantage here,” said Ruchi Sadana, a teacher with Prakash Higher Secondary School .

Sabina Sawhney, Head Mistress at DPS Bopal said, “There are frequent technical glitches and many students miss what is explained in the class. So we conduct extra classes for them. The work has doubled.” Nirav

At the videoconference (Photo: VNA)

New York (VNA) – Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy , Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, on February 24 underscored the importance of international assistance in the conflict-affected Central African Republic at an UN Security Council (UNSC) videoconference, which discussed ongoing violence in the country.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix , UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, told the conference that the Central African Republic has continued to suffer from violence despite the announcement of the official result of the presidential election in December 2020.

Citing important progress in recent weeks in combating the armed coalition group known as Coalition des Patriotes pour le Changement, he said the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) is providing security to thousands of internally displaced persons, while also supporting efforts to safeguard the democratic order.

The Central African Republic has now become the most dangerous place for humanitarian work, with over 46 percent of worldwide incidents registered by international non-governmental organisations reported in the country.

In his speech, Quy said Vietnam backs the recent efforts of the UN as well as of regional and subregional organisations, including the African Union, the Economic Community of Central African States, and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, to support the Central African Republic.

He took the occasion to urge all concerned parties to resolve differences in a peaceful manner. This effort towards political stability and reconciliation must go hand in hand with the promotion of trust and confidence, he noted.

Calling for the sides involved to respect the election results and handle differences through dialogues, representatives from other UNSC members stressed the importance of implementing the 2019 peace agreement between the local government and armed groups to facilitate long-term political measures.

They supported the efforts made by the African Union and the MINUSCA in the matter./.