Parents dig deep into their pockets, online classes of children to blame

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 22

In response to the Covid-19 lockdown, the government as well as private schools have started teaching online, which has proved to be an effective step in these critical times. But, this has also led to a financial burden on parents. Parents, who generally never allowed their children to use cell phones, are now forced to buy smart phones for them.

Before the Covid-19 outbreak, most of the parents never allowed children to access mobile phones due to their harmful effects on eyes and psyche. Now, school managements have asked parents to provide them with smartphones with Internet connection. As classes are being taken using various online applications such as Zoom and WhatsApp, students need smartphones with a good storage capacity.

“I have three children and I have one mobile phone. A school conducts online classes for three to four hours for one child. Now, I have to arrange at least two separate mobile phones or laptops. Moreover, I am concerned about their health as well. Overuse of mobile phone will affect their eyesight and psychology. I am not opposing the online system. It may help students, but at the cost of making a deep hole in parents’ pockets,” said Jaswinder Singh, a resident.

Gurshran Singh, a student of Class IX, said: “My mother has a phone with moderate storage and RAM. I was using it for a week. But now, it is not working due to low-storage capacity. Teachers asked us to get new phone. My parents don’t have any source of income after the lockdown. I am in a fix as to how will online classes work.”

“We know the financial status of students studying in government schools. Poor parents can’t even provide phones to children. Teaching through TV is way more effective than online classes,” a government teacher said.