Disclaimer: Originally published in July 2020. It is being republished since it still remains an interesting topic till today.
The pandemic has exposed innumerable loopholes in our highly institutionalized society. Be it the medical infrastructure, the education system, the economy, or even the political administration. Each level has faltered with the sudden outbreak of the disease.
Among the above-mentioned fields, the institution of education has had quite a turbulent journey ever since the institutes shut down in March. Both students and teachers have been struggling to continue their respective courses online.
Most private institutes have done the needful to boost the process while other states like Kerala have televised their classes for wider reach. However, the majority section of the students are still trying to figure out a way to cope up with the new norm.
Under such circumstances, many have come up with various creative ways to be able to attend their classes. Harish, a young boy from Rajasthan, has grabbed quite some attention for his innovative yet cumbersome way to attend classes.
A Mountain To Climb
Harish, a student of Jawahar Navodaya Vidhyalaya, has been climbing a hill daily for the last month and a half to get better connectivity for his online classes. He would leave at 8:00 AM and return around 2:00 PM, every day, after his classes got over.
The young boy hails from a small village in the Barmer district of Rajasthan, named Darura. The internet access is quite weak in his area, which would affect his attendance for his online classes.
However, this isn’t a bizarre occurrence. Earlier, another boy from Dhanpura was reported to have been climbing trees and rooftops for accessing the internet for his online classes. He had commented on the same saying– “We can’t study online as due lack of internet connectivity we tend to miss our classes.”
Also Read: IMA Confirms India Enters Community Transmission Stage, These States Most At Risk
Access To Internet, A Privilege?
As technology has advanced in leaps and bounds in the past few years, the internet has gradually become more of a necessity than a luxury now. And the pandemic has proved this true more than ever.
However, in a developing country like ours, it still continues to be a luxury. People in rural areas can’t afford devices in the first place that would have access to the internet. Getting connectivity seems to be like a distant dream.
Moreover, a few states like Kashmir and Assam have extremely restricted access to internet connections. Only 15% of our country’s rural population has access to internet connectivity, according to government-provided statistics.
The pandemic has posed a serious threat to the continuation of classes for both schools as well as university students. Online classes have too many pitfalls for the larger community to be able to gain access to it.
The institutes should come up with a different course of action, backed by the government under this period of crisis. After all, it is the future of one of the world’s largest youth populations that they are dealing with here.
Image Credits: Google Images
Source: News18, IndiaTimes
Find The Blogger: @Sriya54171873
This post is tagged under: attend online classes, Barmer district, climbs mountain, darura, dhanpura, difficulties, Harish, india, internet connectivity, jawahar navodaya vidyalaya, kerala, network, online classes, private institutes, problems, Rajasthan, rural india, Students, televised classes, troubles in attending online classes
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