Students face digital divide as online classes resume

Bengaluru Online classes for students in all private schools across Karnataka commenced on Thursday, after several months of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic

Bengaluru

HT Image

Online classes for students in all private schools across Karnataka commenced on Thursday, after several months of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, digital classes for students enrolled in government schools are yet to begin, officials from the department of secondary education said, adding that mapping of children to determine if they have access to electronic devices and internet is yet to be completed.

According to primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar, around 40% of students in the state do not have access to the internet or a mobile device, which denies them an opportunity to avail online classes.

According to the state education department data, around 9.3 million out of the total 10.05 million students across private and public schools in Karnataka have been accounted for in terms of access to devices, internet, television, radio and even email.

Of the 9.3 million students, 5.8 million have access to smartphones or tablets and around 3.1 million are without any access to such devices. Further, around 5.1 million students have access to the internet while 3.7 million do not have access to the internet, rendering the exercise of online classes as a redundant practice for these children, mostly from rural and backward regions of the state, according to data.

“Classes or material on television will commence from July 5. For online classes, we have asked at the school level to do mapping, which was delayed due to lockdown,” a senior official at the secondary education department of Karnataka told Hindustan Times on Thursday, requesting not to be named.

In Bengaluru (rural, south and north), around 1.7 million out of the total over 1.9 million students have been accounted for in terms of access to devices, internet, television, radio and even email. Of these, 1.3 million students have access to a mobile number they can be contacted on while 1.4 million students have access to smartphones or tablets. In terms of internet accessibility, 1.3 million students have the access to the internet while 401,269 are without the access, data from the education department suggests.

The government-appointed technical advisory committee (TAC), in its recommendations, argued that education is the fundamental right of the child and stated that reopening physical schools would optimise learning, physical and mental health and will improve nutritional aspects of children.

“Any further delay in school reopening may push children into malnutrition, child labour, child marriage, trafficking, begging etc., making their condition worse,” according to the report, submitted to the chief minister BS Yediyurappa-led government on June 22.

The poor access to online classes comes weeks before the state government’s proposed dates for exams for Class 10. Karnataka has decided to hold board exams for 10th graders on July 19 and July 22, in which all six subjects will be compressed into two papers, which will carry 120 marks each.

Officials in the department said that in total, from class 1-10, there are only 61% students with access to online classes while another 10-15% have mobiles at home, which their parents use during the day and can be used by the student to watch and learn downloaded videos and classes at a time of their choosing.

The state government has also decided to bring reforms in periodical reviews of students, like CBSE and ICSE boards, but the plan is nowhere near completion and is still on the drawing board, people aware of the developments said.

The state government has begun teaching classes on TV and has created over 300,000 videos, classes and other content.

However, data shows that 865,259 students across the state do not have access to radio or television in their homes.

Kumar said they are now opening android banks in all taluka headquarters, where people could donate their smartphones, which would be distributed among students.