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Find ways to educate students with no internet access: Capt to edu deptt
Said it is imperative to ensure equal educational opportunity and access for all students, including the poor and rural students.
Punjab chief minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday asked the education department to work out ways to ensure delivery of education to students with no internet access.
“Given the Covid situation, which is preventing regular offline classes, it is imperative to ensure equal educational opportunity and access for all students, including the poor and rural students,” the CM said in response to a question during his #AskCaptain session on Facebook on Sunday.
“The education department is exploring ways and means to deal with the challenge of imparting education to those who do not have access to online systems,” he said, adding that the new processes would be put in place very soon to ensure that students do not suffer due to the prolonged suspension of physical classes.
In response to a question, Amarinder said his government had already filed a Letters Patent Appeal (LPA), challenging the high court decision to allow private schools to charge fee even where no online classes are held.
On the issue of university and college exams for final-term students, the CM made it clear that he does not agree with the latest UGC guidelines making it mandatory for exams to be held by September.
“The UGC should leave it to the states to decide, given their ground realities,” he said, adding that he hoped the Prime Minister, to whom he had written on Saturday, would understand the state’s concern and intervene in the interest of the safety of students.
