The electricity keeps cutting out, the Internet connection is crackly and the speakers don't always work, but Santosh Kumar knows that 20 pupils far away in eastern India are relying on him.
Once a week, Kumar uses Skype to teach maths to children in Chamanpura, a poor village in Bihar, 970 kilometres from his two-storey house in the suburbs of New Delhi.
The free Internet service allows the class to see, via a projector, Kumar's tutorial which includes an animated tale about a greedy priest and a wily countryman to teach the students about numbers and the concept of infinity. "The first time I did this, they were really excited by the technology, now they don't care," Kumar said. "It's normal to them." Kumar, a successful 34-year-old engineer, grew up in Chamanpura village before battling his way to a place at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology. "It's an uphill task to bring education to villages," he said.
Chamanpura has no mains electricity, or by the refusal of experienced teachers to travel to Bihar, Kumar's cousin Chandrakant Singh approached his friends for donations to fund the Chaitanya Gurukul school. He installed two power generators and organised training for 16 local teachers before hitting on the idea of using Skype to connect students with professionals across India.
The school opened its doors in April 2010, offering admission to 500 students. The Skype lessons take place in the evenings after the day's regular classes and at weekends.
Once a week, Kumar uses Skype to teach maths to children in Chamanpura, a poor village in Bihar, 970 kilometres from his two-storey house in the suburbs of New Delhi.
The free Internet service allows the class to see, via a projector, Kumar's tutorial which includes an animated tale about a greedy priest and a wily countryman to teach the students about numbers and the concept of infinity. "The first time I did this, they were really excited by the technology, now they don't care," Kumar said. "It's normal to them." Kumar, a successful 34-year-old engineer, grew up in Chamanpura village before battling his way to a place at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology. "It's an uphill task to bring education to villages," he said.
Chamanpura has no mains electricity, or by the refusal of experienced teachers to travel to Bihar, Kumar's cousin Chandrakant Singh approached his friends for donations to fund the Chaitanya Gurukul school. He installed two power generators and organised training for 16 local teachers before hitting on the idea of using Skype to connect students with professionals across India.
The school opened its doors in April 2010, offering admission to 500 students. The Skype lessons take place in the evenings after the day's regular classes and at weekends.
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