In today’s world, many of us panic when wi-fi stops working. Each passing second fills us with more anxiety and we go to any lengths to get back online. Now imagine if we were not able to access the internet at all. Imagine having to walk far from home to connect to the internet. Every day!

This is what Rakesh Mahato, a 14-year-old boy faced during the lockdown.

Rakesh Mahto attending a class on this self-built structure. He chose this location based on availability of mobile signal.

Rakesh Mahato is a thoughtful, dedicated, and intelligent boy who is highly active in our eVidyaloka Digital Classroom Program in the Purulia district of West Bengal. With the lockdown enforced in March 2020, Rakesh was one of the children who were able to connect to online classes through eVidyaloka’s Learn from Home model that ensures that learning continues.

However, Tamna village, where he resides is in a very low-lying area and therefore it is difficult to get a stable mobile signal there. Rakesh was not able to connect to the internet while sitting on the floor of his house. Determined to not miss any of his classes, he took his parent’s phone and set out to find a place with a better mobile signal. He found a spot some distance away from his house and decided to make that his study area. With the help of his friends, he built a structure and made it his new and personal study space.

When asked how and why he came up with the idea of the structure, he said, “This is called a machan. I saw one near the pond and I decided to make one. My friends helped me. Our house is low-lying. I do not get a signal there. I get a good signal here. I can now attend my online classes.”

Rakesh Mahto built this machan with the help of friends, to attend online classes.

Rakesh set a discipline and routine for himself all so that he could continue his education. His favourite subject is English, taught by online Volunteer Teacher Amitava Deshmukh who resides in Hyderabad. This 14-year-old boy has faced many challenges. His father passed away when he was much younger, and his mother works hard to single-handedly support him and his younger siblings. All that he has done to keep his education from coming to an abrupt halt has been through his own determination and hard work.

At eVidyaloka, we do our part by ensuring a volunteer teacher and a student are connected to each other, to enable access to quality education. However, the commitment, drive and passion come from the students and their teachers.

To ensure more volunteer teachers like Amitava and more students like Rakesh are connected, you can contribute here or volunteer your time here.

This article was written by Rinki Chowdhury and Ria Mathew.

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