Govt to ensure students get access to online studies amid pandemic: Karnataka HC

The Karnataka high court asked the state government to collect data on the availability of necessary gadgets among the children in the state by July 5 and submit the report to the HC on July 8.

Karnataka high court said on Tuesday that the state will be violating the fundamental right to education if it fails to give children access to technology, required for online education during the Coved-19 pandemic. It also asked the government to complete a survey on children’s access to gadgets such as mobiles and television by July 5 and report the results to the HC on July 8.

The Karnataka HC said there was a threat that children without access to online education could be drafted for child labour, begging or any rather harmful activities. Representative Photo

The instruction came during a hearing on a petition questioning the state government’s preparation for effective and equitable delivery of online education. While the state claimed that around 20% students in government-run and aided schools don’t have access to electronic gadgets or televisions for online education, the petitioners cited related national government data to claim the number was likely to be much higher.

A division bench of justice BV Nagarathna and justice Hanchate Sanjeev Kumar expressed concern and said there was a real threat that children without access to online education could be drafted for child labour, begging or any rather harmful activities. It added that poor girls cut off from online education, particularly in rural areas, could be married off.

“If the object of article 21A is to be emphasized, education is to be imparted to children up to the age of 14 years as it is their fundamental fight, and the obligation is on the state to provide access to education by means of technology in absence of [offline] school[ing]… due to [the] pandemic. If such steps are not taken for these children by the state, ….[it]would be a failure on [the] part of the state in ensuring the fundamental rights…,” the court observed.

Senior Advocate Harish Narasappa, appearing for petitioner Sanjeev Narrain, said the number of students excluded from online education in Karnataka was likely to be much higher than the estimates provided by the state.

“I have attached the report of the National Statistical Office (NSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 2018, which states that in Karnataka, only a dismal 2% of rural households have access to a computer and only 8.3% have access to internet facilities. For urban households, only 22.9% have access to a computer and 33.5% have access to internet facilities,” Narasappa said.

Following this, the bench asked the state to collect data on the availability of necessary gadgets among the children in the state by July 5 and submit the report to the HC on July 8.