Panchkula (Haryana): Schools have been closed for almost 7 months now due to the coronavirus. Online classes were conducted to ensure that children's education doesn't suffer. In Morni, a hilly area of Panchkula, students are studying online, while putting their lives at risk. The major reason for this is the problem of mobile network connectivity.
Due to the lack of mobile signal in the Dapna village of Morni, students have to climb trees. Only after that, are they able to study. Incidents like these raise the question "Is this the digital India of the 21st century?
For online studies, these students have selected a place where there is a tree. All the students sit down on a cot, under the tree to study. Among them, a student climbs the tree with a mobile in his hand. With one hand he picks up and holds the mobile phone high for signal and with the other hand grabs the tree. After receiving the signal, as soon as the school assignment gets received on WhatsApp, he shares the same with the students sitting on the cot below. This is how these children study online. At the same time, Principal of the school Pawan Jain also admitted that there is a great problem of mobile network connectivity in this area.
Also read: Siblings trek 300 meters uphill to catch up online classes
Student Riya Thakur said that there is no mobile network connectivity in her village. Therefore, they get a boy to climb a tree, so that on getting the network connectivity, they can get the homework assigned to them from the school. "This is how we do our studies. Many times there is no one to climb the tree, and then we find it even more difficult to do our studies. In such a situation, we have to climb trees ourselves," she said.
There are 83 schools in Morni block of Panchkula district, the only mountainous region of Haryana, where about three and a half thousand students study. The students journey 25 km from Panchkula to Morni via Madhna, which is completely uninhabited and wild. There is no network connectivity of any telecom company here. There is a problem of network connectivity in the areas between Morni to Raipur Rani, in about 15 km stretch out of 25 kilometres. Not only for online education, but the students had to risk their lives to go to school during offline studies as well.
In order to go to school, students have to cross the two kilometres long rugged and deserted forest, which is not safe in any manner. Only after crossing the forest route, the students get a school bus. Many times the students miss their school bus too due to difficulty in crossing the forest, because of which they have to face more trouble. Even five years old Children are forced to cross the deserted forest on foot.
Also read: Provide gadgets, internet pack to poor students for online classes: HC to schools
Online education is proving less a relief and more of a trouble for these students. This is not the case just in the Morni area of Panchkula but this situation prevails throughout the state. Somewhere students do not even have a mobile phone and somewhere network for online education. So, in such a situation, these students are forced to risk their lives for a bright future. The biggest question is that if there is any untoward incident takes place with these students climbing trees, etc, then who will be responsible for it.
