Within Karnataka, students in some districts are better off than their peers when it comes to access to the internet and gadgets for online learning. While the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) on Thursday released a report stating that nearly 55% of the students from classes 1 to 10 in the State had access to the internet, the disparity within educational districts is stark. Of the students surveyed, 40% had no internet. There was no data on the remaining 5%.
Less than 50% of students in 13 education districts, of 34 in Karnataka, had no access. Chamarajnagar had the lowest percentage, at 38.92. Incidentally, Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar happens to be the district in-charge here. The other educational districts that fell in this category are Chitraduraga, Davanagere, Madhugiri, Belagavi, Haveri, Vijayapura, Ballari, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Raichur andYadgiri. On the other hand, 74.64% of students from Bengaluru South district had access.
Niranjanaradhya V.P., senior fellow, Centre for Child and Law, National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, said as expected, North Karnataka districts had poor access to the net. He pointed out that these districts already lagged behind in various educational parameters.
“Relying on online classes this year will worsen the situation in these districts,” he warned, adding that online classes, synchronous or not, will not serve any purpose to students from low socio-economic backgrounds.
A department official added, “In homes with more than one student, the availability may be for a shorter duration in the day.”
