Fifteen months after classes went online due to the pandemic, when the new academic year began on Monday, students in the remote hamlet of Surla in Sattari saw themselves trekking uphill yet again through dense forests in heavy rainfall for internet connectivity.
Though teaching did not begin on the very first day of the new academic year 2021-22, anxious students in remote areas of Goa still had to find ways to connect with their schools about the upcoming lesson plans.
Parents of students in remote areas of Sattari expressed fear that their children would once again suffer like last year, trekking through hilly and forested areas, risking wild animal attacks.
Due to poor connectivity students of remote areas have to trek to higher altitudes in forested area to access network to attend online classes.“Students residing in Surla have to trek to uphill areas in search of network despite heavy rainfall.
A tower has been erected since we appealed to authorities last year, but connectivity is expected to be provided in another month or so.
We feel bad to see the students attending online classes by holding an umbrella in one hand and a phone in another,” said Surla panch member Suryakant Gaonkar.
It is a similar struggle for students in other remote areas of Sattari taluka like Satre, Derode, Kodal, Maloli, Nanoda and Bambar areas of Nagargao panchayat, Caranzol, Kumthol, Shelpe Budruk, Sanvordem, Sonal, Dhave in Sanvordem panchayat, and Khotoda Malpan, Shelpe, Paikul, Murmune in Guleli panchayat.
Although BSNL network is available in some parts of Sattari, students said the connectivity is not good enough to connect to live sessions.
“We were able to connect to only around 20% of students on the first day, which may be because of network problems.
Last year, many teachers travelled more than 15km from Valpoi to Sakhali town for connectivity.
Teachers can travel to the place where they get the best connectivity, but it’s very difficult for students to manage,” said Fehmida Khan, a school teacher from Valpoi.
In Gaondongrim, Canacona, a group of five boys trekked 300ft to a hilly forested area to be able to connect with their school teachers.
“We can’t get connectivity if we sit at home,” said one of the boys, a student of Tudal High School, Tudal, Gaondongrim.
“We narrowed down this area after roaming to different areas for network connectivity.
Due to frequent disruption in the network, we lose track of what is being taught, but there is nothing we can do about it.” Villager Molu Velip said that schools are doing their best to continue with the teaching, but there is little that they can do about the erratic network.
Students in various areas of Bicholim were equally affected, where locals said that the network was poor in most parts of the taluka, except town areas.
“Students cannot concentrate on their studies when the network keeps fluctuating.
I cannot get range in our house, as a result of which I have to come out of the house and find a place at a higher altitude,” said a student of government high school, Kudchirem.
If students in remote areas are facing network problems, school authorities should take responsibility to identify a safe place for students to access their classes from, said Deelip Dhargalkar of the higher secondary teachers’ association.
“If school authorities are finding this difficult, they should take the help of the education department inspector of the taluka and find a solution to the problem.
Allowing students to struggle for two years due to network issues is negligence on the part of the state,” he said.
Another problem is that many parents in remote areas also do not have the financial means to buy the mobile phones required for online education, depriving many children of access to online classes.
Laxmi Talewad and Rakesh Talewad, both siblings studying in Class VI in a Valpoi-based school, said that they do not have mobile phones to attend online classes.
“Our father works as a labourer and he could not afford a mobile phone for us,” they said.
Nilesh Parwar, panch of Thane-Dongurli village panchayat, said that he prays that there are not untoward incidents reported due to such students from poor families going through immense stress over not being able to attend online classes for the lack of a device.
(With inputs from Pritam Chodankar)