Gurgaon: While online learning has become the default mode of education during this Covid lockdown, not all is rosy in Haryana — students of several government schools are literally struggling to connect to virtual classes as they don’t have a smartphone or a laptop.
In fact, in rural districts like Nuh and Bhiwani, 50-70% of students have remained untouched by the government’s ambitious digital classes. In Gurgaon too, only 50-60% students so far have been covered by teachers for online classes, according to the feedback received by the education department from students.
Pulling up the education officers of various districts for the abysmal performance of online education, the state government has now asked all government teachers to conduct a door-to-door survey and submit a detailed review of digital classes and the challenges faced by the students as well as the educators.
The order from the state education department came during a recent video conference, which was virtually attended by education officers and government teachers of all districts. In Haryana, all schools have been shut for over two months now to contain the spread of Covid-19.
“The school education officials were really furious at such bad performance by several districts. They have been investigating the reachability of online classes after being flooded with complaints. Teachers of Nuh and Bhiwani were pulled up for not making any sincere attempts to ensure digital education reaches last mile,” said an official.
Speaking to TOI, several students of government schools lamented the exclusion but lauded the education department for acting on their feedback. “I don’t have a computer at home and nobody in my family owns a smartphone. We had TV connection but it broke and needed fixing. As shops were closed we couldn’t get it repaired. I had to request my friend to share her notes so that I can learn. I didn’t have notebooks because of lockdown, so it was very difficult to remember the lessons,” said Sutam Khanoom, a student of Kadipur government school.
In Nuh’s Marora village, locally known as Trump village, parents complained of the struggle their wards have been facing in continuing their education online.
A senior district education department official said teachers in Mewat “are not discharging their duty as required”. “For those who don’t have access to internet or cable TV, the department had mandated SMSes and calls from teachers. But most teachers have made flimsy excuses. Because of social distancing norms, field surveys are not happening, so they think they can get away easily,” he added.
In fact, in rural districts like Nuh and Bhiwani, 50-70% of students have remained untouched by the government’s ambitious digital classes. In Gurgaon too, only 50-60% students so far have been covered by teachers for online classes, according to the feedback received by the education department from students.
Pulling up the education officers of various districts for the abysmal performance of online education, the state government has now asked all government teachers to conduct a door-to-door survey and submit a detailed review of digital classes and the challenges faced by the students as well as the educators.
The order from the state education department came during a recent video conference, which was virtually attended by education officers and government teachers of all districts. In Haryana, all schools have been shut for over two months now to contain the spread of Covid-19.
“The school education officials were really furious at such bad performance by several districts. They have been investigating the reachability of online classes after being flooded with complaints. Teachers of Nuh and Bhiwani were pulled up for not making any sincere attempts to ensure digital education reaches last mile,” said an official.
Speaking to TOI, several students of government schools lamented the exclusion but lauded the education department for acting on their feedback. “I don’t have a computer at home and nobody in my family owns a smartphone. We had TV connection but it broke and needed fixing. As shops were closed we couldn’t get it repaired. I had to request my friend to share her notes so that I can learn. I didn’t have notebooks because of lockdown, so it was very difficult to remember the lessons,” said Sutam Khanoom, a student of Kadipur government school.
In Nuh’s Marora village, locally known as Trump village, parents complained of the struggle their wards have been facing in continuing their education online.
A senior district education department official said teachers in Mewat “are not discharging their duty as required”. “For those who don’t have access to internet or cable TV, the department had mandated SMSes and calls from teachers. But most teachers have made flimsy excuses. Because of social distancing norms, field surveys are not happening, so they think they can get away easily,” he added.
