Children are studying through smartphones due to the closure of schools in India, but many families do not have the money even to buy smartphones. Not only this, but slow internet is also becoming a hindrance in the online education of children. Due to Corona, about 24 crore school children in India are studying at home.
Kuldeep Kumar, a farmer from Palampur, sold his cow and bought a smartphone so that his children could participate in online classes. The school has been closed due to lockdown for the last four months. Kumar was already in debt and cow was his only asset. Last week, he sold this cow for Rs 6,000 and almost all the money was invested in the smartphone.
Kumar says in a conversation with Reuters, "My neighbor has a smartphone, but my children are against going there every day, I was worried about his studies, so I sold the cow." India is the second-largest smartphone market in the world after China. In India, nearly one billion population has phones that are equipped with internet facilities.
Smartphones are a new thing for Kumar and his wife. Neither Kumar nor his wife have ever been online and therefore their children are using smartphones only.
Internet is most important for children due to the closure of the school
Due to the closure of the school, access to the Internet has become the most important thing for children, so that they can stay connected with their studies. This is why many poor or low-income families are buying cheaper or second-hand smartphones. Around 24 crore children attend school in India. Due to these, the sale of low-priced smartphones can increase further. Industry experts say that sales of used handsets have increased in rural areas.
Teacher is appealing to donate smartphone
Nagnath Vibhute, a Pune teacher, appealed to people through his blog to donate used smartphones, which can be used by children who come from poor families.
Slow internet speed in villages is not less than trouble for children
Teachers are giving home lessons or taking virtual classes through WhatsApp. But, the lack of smartphones is not the only barrier to online schooling. Moumita Bhattacharjee, a chemistry teacher in Panchgani, Maharashtra, has to work with slow internet. Bhattacharjee has also put a blackboard on the wall to give the children a feel of the classroom. Moumita records the lesson and later the children download it via the Internet.
Government launches one class one channel
In addition to a poor connection, phone costs, and expensive data plans, concerns over spending too much time on the screen have forced the idea of teaching back to offline. Recently, the Ministry of Human Resources launched 'One Class One Channel'. Under this, TV and radio are used to teach children.
46 percent of families have stopped teaching their children
Due to online education, millions of children from poor families have missed their education. A survey conducted by the non-profit organization Caritas India on over 600 migrant workers revealed that 46 percent of them have stopped teaching their children. Pune-based teacher Vibhute says that he lost contact with the children of laborers working in brick kilns who have become unemployed due to the lockdown.
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