Fighting for her phone

The sheer desperation was reflected in the courage shown by 15-year-old Kusum who fended off the snatchers who tried to take away her smartphone in Jalandhar. The daughter of a daily wager, the braveheart, who aspires to be a police officer and is taking lessons in taekwondo, realised that she could not afford to lose the phone, for it had not come easy and that her father had toiled hard for it. Besides, it stored all her notes sent by teachers. Attacked with sharp weapons, she managed to catch hold of a snatcher before passersby came to her rescue. The incident also illustrates how smartphones have now become a necessity with virtual teaching replacing the classrooms of schools and colleges as the coronavirus pandemic brings about a technological shift in the field of education.

But it is not without its share of problems. Not all students possess their own phone. Lack of proper connectivity and buying data reinforces the fact that those from weaker sections must not be left out for lack of resources as the realisation dawns that online education will be co-opted along with offline teaching after the pandemic is over. It may not be possible to teach all the subjects online but this mode is turning out to be the mainstay of teaching in the crisis.

In Punjab, the state government has launched a scheme to provide free smartphones for government school students. Ensuring that it reaches the real beneficiaries is important. The Internet infrastructure is also inadequate and needs strengthening. The government should also assess if the normal law and order situation has been affected on account of police personnel being deployed for Covid-related duties. Snatching is indulged in mostly by drug addicts who take away phones, earrings and chains to pay for their daily fix and women have been a prime target. Whether Kusum makes it to the list of bravery awards or not is immaterial, but her feat has highlighted the shift in the field of education, ensuring access to which remains as arduous now, as it has always been.