BERHAMPUR: Online education may have come as a boon for students and teachers across the state during pandemic but for many villages in Ganjam district, it still remains out of reach for many owing to poor mobile network connectivity.
In rural areas of Ganjam district, studying online has remained only a wish for several students. The district has around 3,500 villages.
Around 4.2 lakh children from class I to VIII are enrolled in 2,964 government schools and 80,000 in classes IX and X are studying in 662 high schools.
Besides, the district has over 10,000 college students. Apart from schools, coaching classes too are closed and in such situation online education remains the only option for students.
Apps like Madhu, Sikshya Sanjog and Zoom have been helping the teachers but only in urban areas where students have better access to smartphones and uninterrupted mobile network.
District education officer Amulya Pradhan said network connectivity and availability of smartphones are pertinent issues faced by children in rural areas. “In order to ensure uninterrupted learning, we are encouraging children to access study materials on Madhu app and also on Doordarshan channel,” he said.
Government owned BSNL, which has around 2.5 lakh consumers in Ganjam, had decided to expand its base by installing 132 new towers in the district in 2016. But only four of them were installed in Berhampur town and none has started functioning yet. The telecom major has 237 2G and 186 3G mobile towers in the district.
Even as it is yet to provide 4G service in the district, private players have been expanding their base in urban areas by ignoring villages. Sources said several villages in Patrapur, Sanakhemundi and Digapahandi blocks still do not have mobile service. In the rest of the blocks, connectivity remains a roadblock.
Under such circumstances, children in rural areas are deprived of any means of learning and hoping for physical classes to resume. Adding to their difficulty is affordability of smartphones.
Madhusmita Panda a Class V student from Chikiti said her father is a daily labourer and when the schools were open, she managed to attend classes as books and uniform were given to her free of cost.
But now in order to attend online classes, she needs a smartphone and her family’s financial condition makes buying one an uphill task.
"Several of my classmates have smartphones,but they do not allow me into their houses due to fear of Covid-19,” she said.
Sources said though the government is encouraging teachers to opt online mode, several of them are not well-versed in using apps to teach students.
Unless the ones suffering due to technological and financial issues are identified by the authorities, online education cannot serve its purpose.