Hyderabad: The shutdown of educational institutions barely a month after its reopening in the state has led to a fresh wave of panic among students and parents. Students are facing problems in getting linked to the online classes.
“This is more so for budget private school students. Most of the students do not possess a device to attend the classes and are thus being denied the Right to Education,” said private schools welfare body, the Telangana recognised schools' management association (TRSMA). It pleaded that the government provide the electronic devices to students free of cost.
"There is low attendance to online classes for most subjects in budget schools. Some 23 lakh of the total 33 lakh students in the state either do not possess the systems or cannot afford a smartphone or electronic device to attend to these classes. Parents don't know whether their child back home studies or attends to classes regularly while they are at work," said Sadulla Madhusudhan, TRSMA general secretary.
Parents echoed the same sentiment and said their children would suffer as a result of the return to the online classrooms. "I have three children, one in Class 10, another in Class 8 and the third in Class 4. It’s difficult to give each one a smartphone. At least one of them regularly misses out on these online classes," said Karuna Jyothi, a parent in Hyderabad, herself a teacher at a budget school.
A parent of Wisdom school in Ameerpet said most parents have difficulty buying a smartphone to help their kids attend to classes, and children are facing problems in understanding the curriculum properly.
Farhana Khan, director of a budget private school, the Milat Model School, said the attendance at her school for online classes has dropped by half since the shutdown. "Most families in budget schools are from BPL segments of the society, with just one room and two to three children in one house.
“Just before the reopening, I sought the opinions of parents on whether they would prefer their children have online or offline classes. They found themselves being incapable of making their kids study regularly," Khan told Deccan Chronicle.
The TRSMA pleads that the government either reopen schools from April 1 or provide smartphones and electronic devices to students of government and budget schools. This would ensure each student his or her right to education, it says.
