POINGUINIM: Temporary wooden structures called ‘mallo’ have cropped up in some remote villages in Canacona and Sanguem, mainly on hilltops and inside forests.
The structures — on stilts — have been built by villagers to help their children brave the weather as they access their online classes. Panchayat officials in the villages have now been left frustrated with the unresponsiveness of officials to their pleas to either address the network issues here or to devise alternative ways of learning for these children.
Netravali sarpanch Archana Gaonkar said that authorities are yet to redress their grievances despite several reminders from the panchayat.
In villages like Netravali and Bhati in Sanguem and Gaondongrim in Canacona, internet connectivity is non-existent. But since the pandemic, classes have moved online, and the ‘maallo’ erected in areas that receive the faintest network are the students’ best bet at keeping pace with the syllabus.
BSNL authorities have been intimated several times, but to no avail, said Netravali deputy sarpanch Abhijit Desai. “There are BSNL towers here, but it looks like they are non-operational. Hope the government opens its eyes soon,” he said.
Desai said government officials are well aware that children in areas like Netravali do not have network connectivity whatsoever. “Yet, officials insist on attending online classes. Is the government serious?”
In July, chief minister Pramod Sawant had admitted that there is no internet connectivity in many parts of the state, blaming it on opposition by locals to mobile towers.
Later, a telecom policy was announced, promising to improve connectivity across Goa within a short period. Sawant had also promised that offline teaching methods would be used in remote areas.
In Netravali, Bhati and Gaondongrim, the route to the ‘network areas’ is like a daily obstacle race for the students, with wild animals and dense patches of forests along the way.
Desai said that students are forced to walk atop hillocks or venture into forested areas in search of network, putting their lives at great risk. “The dense forests of the Netravali wildlife sanctuary can be dangerous,” he said. “The children have to brave possible wild animal attacks and the weather when finding connectivity.”
“Students are seen beginning their trek early in the morning to get internet access, and they return only by late afternoon, once their online classes end,” said Bhati sarpanch Uday Naik.
Satish Gaonkar, the father of Class VI student Yogita in Saljini hamlet of Netravali, said it is a pitiful sight to see students left at the mercy of dodgy internet to access a basic like education.
“I feel disgusted and sad to see students wander the forests in search of connectivity,” he said. “The government does not seem to be bothered.”
A student from the village, Vaibhavi Prabhu, had earlier written to the PMO about her struggles after she and her brother had to sit by the roadside to attend online classes every day.
“When students are showing such enthusiasm to learn, it is up to the government to step in and offer to help,” said another parent from Saljini, Krishna Gaonkar.