The ruling AIADMK government must realise that online schooling for nearly 1.31 crore students in the State will lead to inequality among students, cause mental agony and may also cause inferiority complexes among the children, and the government should not allow online classes to be held, DMK president M.K. Stalin said.

Mr. Stalin said unlike regular schooling, where children are on an equal platform, online learning will lead to inequalities. With inadequate internet and hardware infrastructure, less privileged students will end up suffering, he said in a statement.

“Of the 1.31 crore students, 60% live in rural areas. Those living in villages do not have internet facilities, broadband, wi-fi, smartphones, computers or laptops. As per a report of the National Sample Survey Office, in 2017-18, only 4.4% houses in villages and 23.4% houses in urban areas had computers, 14.9% people in rural areas and 42% urban dwellers alone had internet connections; only 11% people have laptops and 24% have smartphones,” he said.

Mr. Stalin said online learning would be a drawback especially for rural students and poor students in urban areas, as they lack basic infrastructure for learning online. “The committee that is supposed to give a report on the syllabus for academic year 2020-21 has not yet submitted it. Also, what are the hardware requirements for this syllabus? Have they identified the softwares to be used?” he asked.

The DMK president said School Education Minister K.A. Sengottaiyan had announced that 20 lakh students in classes 8, 9 and 10 will be given tablet devices. “This has not happened yet. Kalvi TV connection too has been given to only 1 lakh students till now and there are also questions about all households having access to it,” he said.

Mr. Stalin said the government should take the inputs of students and parents from all schools on the infrastructure drawbacks for online learning and should ensure that online classes are not forced upon the students as it could end up having disastrous consequences.