Online classes leave village students in dire straits

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 8

Students of Sanghowal village don’t have time to attend online classes. In the last four months, many haven’t attended even in a single class. Well, being dwellers of an obscure settlement here, they are too busy working as daily wagers in paddy fields to attend any classes.

But, could this be the real reason behind skipping sessions? Paramjit Kaur, a resident of the village and a BA final year student, is among the defaulters. She clears the air. “I haven’t attended a single class because I was never called! Some music students had been attending but I never received a notice or an invite. Many of my classmates also suffered same fate,” she tells.

Of a class of 30 to 40 majority of students fail to make it. “Either we are being deliberately left out or our teachers haven’t bothered to call us. My parents live here and I continued to stay in a PG in Jalandhar to study better. Now, I am thinking whether I should quit BA and pursue a job. The fate of exams is uncertain and education has taken a backseat. These are very difficult and sad times for us,” says Paramjit, whose father is a vegetable vendor.

While the heart-rending stories about the sufferings of poor school children due to lack of smartphones has captured the limelight amid the pandemic. The wailing of college-goers of the underprivileged section has largely gone unnoticed. The pressure of fees, uncertainty of examinations and the never-ending accessibility issues are constantly nagging them.

Varjit Kaur, an activist of the Punjab Students Union, says students are planning a protest on between August 17 and 18 against the forcible thrusting of online classes.

She says, “Students get notices about paying fee regularly. But are we even getting proper education? One of the key demands of our upcoming protests is that adequate substitutes to online teaching be given. Majority of students from poor and farming families are not able to attend online sessions. Two of my classmates haven’t attended a single online class since they are working on paddy transplantation.”

Matter of fact is that remote villages do have poor connectivity. “Of our 30-40 students in the MA Political Science class, barely seven or eight turn up for the online class,” she shares, before adding, “there are families where the only phone is with parents. While thrusting online classes on to students, no one cared if many one has a home environment to cope with online lessons or not.” Protesters will be appealing to call students in batches to college and give lessons to clear exams along with study material as well.

Ramnita Sharda, Prof at HMV College, says. “They should be taught in asynchronous manner and not synchronous. Students are going to have eyesight problems, lifestyle diseases and mental health issues perpetuated by online classes. Academic organisations need to bear these factors in mind. Study material ought to be made available to students where they are. Many can’t access it online.”

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