PUNE: After Balchitrawani shut down a week ago paving way for E-Balbharati that is all set to replace the former with digital content, the new textbooks published by Balbharti have QR codes through which digital content could be accessed by teachers and students.

Speaking about the initiative, Sunil Magar, Director of Balbharati and SCERT (State Council of Educational Research and Training) said, “Balchitrawani was shut down as the kind of content (audio-visual) that it produced had become outdated. Teachers as well as students in almost all schools today are digitally literate, and it only made sense to change the medium in which we provide them the content that they need.” 

He added, “On scanning the QR codes on the textbooks, the teachers will gain access to the links that will have information and free videos related to the particular subject. Although we haven’t given that access yet, we will start the service once the schools open next week.”

Magar said that presently, there is no specific team to generate content for E-Balbharati, like the one Balchitrawani had. “There is a lot of digital content out there that could be used according to our syllabus. Also, teachers from across the state have already generated a lot of content in the form of videos for the m-Shiksha MITRA app that was launched earlier this year. We are using that content for E-Balbharti as well. If at all there is a need in future, we will create a team to generate the necessary content,” Magar said.