For these rural students in Karnataka, e-learning is an 'uphill' battle

School and college students in many remote villages of Sagar Taluk in Shivamogga district are left with no choice but to trek 2-3 km uphill at Binchgoodu in order to access mobile network to attend online classes.

There is a saying, education should not be confined to the classroom. However, for the students in the remote villages of Sagar taluk in Shivamogga district — Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s home turf — studying during the second wave of Covid- 

School and college students in Tumari, Baikodu, Kaluru, Karur, Kudururu, and many such remote villages are left with no choice but to trek 2-3 km uphill at Binchgoodu in order to access mobile network to attend online classes. (Photo | Shriram BN, EPS)

There are at least 40 such students and some of them are accompanied by worried parents who are apprehensive about sending their children alone to the hilltop. (Photo | Shriram BN, EPS)

The path up the hillock is fraught with wild encounters, as they cross paths with snakes and other reptiles. (Photo | Shriram BN, EPS)

When it rains, they are forced to hold up an umbrella in one hand and their phones in the other as Malnad area is known to witness heavy rainfall. Heavy winds make it all the more difficult for students to follow their lessons. (Photo | Shriram BN, EPS)

“We have been demanding a dedicated mobile tower for almost a decade. It’s frustrating because it affects our children’s education,” says Guru, a local. (Photo | Shriram BN, EPS)

Villagers say they have complained to MLAs and MPs too, but to no avail. (Photo | Shriram BN, EPS)