Unequal footing: E-Lessons fail students’ test in Punjab

CHANDIGARH: Forced by Covid-19 pandemic to stay away from schools, students are struggling to cope up with remote education, which is fast becoming the new norm.
All the schools in the state are shut since March 13, and will remain closed till further orders, disturbing the academic schedule and activities. To make up for lost teaching hours, the Punjab education department has been pushing for e-learning by making efforts to reach to students through different mediums.

The multimedia-based e-content of the prescribed curriculum for pre-primary to senior secondary classes, designed by teachers, is being shared on WhatsApp groups. Teachers also share assignments, quiz and other information related to studies with the students through these groups. Soft copies of the textbooks have also been uploaded on the state education board website.
However, lack of internet connections, smart phones and computers, has emerged as a major hurdle for students, especially from economically weaker sections (EWS). There have been reported three separate tragic incidents of students committing suicide apparently for not being able to attend online classes for want of smartphone.
While opposing the guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) directing universities and college to conduct final year examination, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh recently acknowledged that a large section of the students in Punjab, especially in rural areas and among the backward communities, did not have access to “affordable and uninterrupted internet connectivity”.
National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey on ‘household social consumption: education’ has pointed out limited access of the internet, especially in the rural areas.
Only 9.4% of households in the rural areas of Punjab have computers, while 39.4% have internet connectivity. The urban areas are relatively better placed with 26.7% of households having computers, and 57.1% having access to the internet. In rural areas, 42.46% have mobile internet subscribers, as per data of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
General secretary of master cadre Washington Singh said the e-content was regularly being shared with the students on WhatsApp. “However, a big chunk of students do not have smartphones and those who do are facing net connectivity issues,” he said.
Sharing his experience, Gurpreet Singh, press secretary of Teachers’ Democratic Front (Digvijay Group), said he started online classes for his students on Zoom but was forced to discontinue after two weeks due to poor response. “Out of 60 students, only four were attending the class and they also stopped after a while due to resource constraints,” said Gurpreet.
The tragic incidents of three students killing themselves for not being able to attend online classes for want of smartphones has made parents panicky and they have started taking loans from microfinanciers to purchase internet enabled phones for their wards, he added.
Those lucky enough to have resources to access e-content are struggling to cope up with the absence of the classroom experience.
Jasanpreet Kaur, a student of Class XI, rued, “The teacher-student connection is missing and learning becomes difficult when there is no interaction between student and teacher. Right now, students are on their own.”
The Right to Education Act mandates 800 instructional hours in an academic year in the primary section, and 1,000 hours in the secondary section. There are over 26 lakh students enrolled in about 20,000 government schools.
Punjab education secretary Krishan Kumar said Covid-19 outbreak had led to unprecedented circumstances and despite that the department had been making all out efforts to reach out to the students through all the available options, both online and offline. “Besides delivering the learning content through online mode, the students are being taught their lessons on television and radio,” said Kumar.