Rajasthan: Most rural kids don’t have smartphones for e-classes

JAISALMER: The state government is stressing on online education but children in rural areas are unable to go for it as majority do not have android phones. It is estimated that only 5-10% children in rural areas are able to study online.
In Jaisalmer district, which is considered a backward with regard to education, the situation is worse in rural areas.
Although the education department is inspiring children to study online under the Muskan project and sending study materials to children through videos, in villages it not bearing any results. In Dabla, Roopsi, Ludhwa and Amarsagar villages, only a hadful of children have the luxury of studying online using mobile phones. A class 8 student at Dabla village said she was studying online but unable to understand most of the course materials. She added that Internet network is the biggest drawback. Similarly, a student of class 6 said though his teacher sends course materials through Whatsapp, it cannot replace classsroom education.
Another student said school has remained shut due to lockdown and online education education cannot replace going to school. He said teachers send course materials through the Internet but on most occasions downloading is very difficult because of network woes. Family members of a student said that their economic situation buying an android phone was not possible. Dabla Senior Higher Secondary School principal Rajesh Vyas said Rajasthan government was the first in the country to start online education through the Muskan project and efforts were being made to make it effective.
He said every day he receives chapters and video links from the education department which he sends to teachers which is then sent to students.