The proposal to hold online classes for students amid concerns over COVID-19 does not appear to be going well with thousands of students residing in tribal villages across the State.
A team from Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) visited a few tribal hamlets in Mysuru and Kodagu recently and found that the students, unlike their urban counterparts, lack accessibility to not just smartphones and computers, but basic necessities like power supply.
“When such is the situation in the tribal hamlets, how can you expect students to catch up on their studies if classes are held online?” wondered Parashurama M.L., member of KSCPCR, who toured villages like Thithimathi, Beematagere, Devamachchi, and Gaddadi in Kodagu’s Virajpet taluk, besides Bavali, Balyadi, Machchuru, and Anemole in Mysuru’s H.D. Kote taluk along with the commission chairperson Antony Sebastian on June 13 and 14.
Contending that any move to permit online classes will amount to perpetuating further inequalities in society, KSCPCR urged the State government to deny permission for online classes. The State government has constituted a task force comprising education experts to study the suitability or otherwise of online learning.
Mr. Parashurama firmly believed that the government will be discriminating against tribal students if permission is granted for online classes. They will lag if the government goes ahead with the “urban-centric” proposal, he argued.
Tribal villages in Mysuru and Kodagu are home to about 2,000 of the estimated 14,000 tribal students across the State covering places like Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga, Chikkamagalur etc.
“If online classes are held, they will see the children of the estate owners near their hamlets studying online, which will further accentuate the social divide among children,” Mr. Parashurama rued.
The Ashram schools, where tribal children are enrolled, are in a pathetic state. Even if the government provides computers and software, the Forest Department will come in the way of providing electricity, he feared.
Though the students are keen to study, the absence of opportunities make them vulnerable to child labour as they are under constant pressure from estate owners as well as their parents to work in the estates.
