New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS): As educational institutes adapted to online learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Delhi Tamil Education Association (DTEA) has distributed 110 tablets to underprivileged students in its seven schools to help them study.

According to DTEA, many impoverished students across India have been deprived of their education, as they lacked the tools - either smartphone, tablet or laptop, and the network as well. The DTEA consists of seven senior secondary schools. Since the beginning of the lockdown, the economically backward students in these seven schools have been deprived of the ongoing online classes. The DTEA Alumni Trust decided to look into this pressing challenge. They raised funds through voluntary contributions.

"Through our efforts, disparate individuals and entities have joined hands to enable accessibility, availability and affordability of online learning for the underprivileged," Anand, Chairman of the DTEA Alumni Trust, said in a statement. The association said that the calls for contributions saw a very strong and encouraging response from alumni members. One of the alumni members, based in the US, decided to match 50 per cent of the total funds raised in India.

To get technical expertise and select the right technological tools, the Trust reached out to Prabhu Ram, Head, Industry Intelligence Group, CMR.

"It is my fiduciary duty to leverage my tech understanding and learning in connecting the dots where possible, for the benefit of the underprivileged," said Ram. "From my vantage point, I have been fortunate to see the efforts by corporates across the board, to enable e-learning," he added.