POINGUINIM: Four days after the academic year commenced, students in remote areas of Canacona and Sanguem talukas are struggling to access online classes due to poor connectivity.
Students of Balram Residential School, Mushifond, at Amonem near Poinguinim are being forced to attend to their online lessons in the forest away from their homes for want of mobile network.
“Considering the woes of students living in the interior parts of the state, authorities have not paid any heed to the problems of students who have been suffering since the past one year due to non-availability of mobile network,” a teacher said.
In a recent report, TOI had highlighted how with the state government putting no measures in place to improve network connectivity, students will once again be forced to trek through remote forests to higher ground for internet access.
Manisha Gaonkar, a SSC student from Verlem in Netravali panchayat, has to go in search out for better places to get net connectivity.
“I want to achieve a good percentage for my exams.
Though I am studying in Balram residential school, we are now at home due to the pandemic.
So since we cannot get net connectivity at home, we have to trek up hilly areas to get signal, or else I will miss my online lessons.
Despite this there are constant connectivity interruptions,” she said.
Like her, Prajyot Gaonkar and Vidhya Gaonkar, who are also students of the same school, also echoed the same sentiments, and hoped that the pandemic ends so that normal classroom studies resume.
A teacher at Balram school said that there are more than 10 students from different wards of Netravali like Verlem, Tudav and Saljini, who are facing tremendous hardships in attend online classes.