In rural areas of Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj, Kandhamal and Nuapara districts, studying online has remained only a wish for several students. These districts have around 30,000 villages.
Mobile apps such as Madhu, Sikshya Sanjog and Zoom have been helping the teachers but only in urban areas where students have better access to smartphones and uninterrupted mobile network.
According to Ganjam District Education Officer (DEO) Amulya Pradhan, network connectivity and availability of smartphones are the key issues faced by children in rural areas. “In order to ensure uninterrupted learning, we are encouraging children to access study materials on Madhu app and also on Doordarshan channel,” he said.
In Ganjam, the Central service provider BSNL had decided to expand its base by installing 132 new towers in the district in 2016. But only four of them were installed in Berhampur town and none has started functioning yet. The telecom major has 237 2G and 186 3G mobile towers in the district.
Similar is the situation in almost all other districts.
Even as it is yet to provide 4G service in the district, private players have been expanding their base in urban areas by ignoring villages.
Sources said several villages in Ganjam’s Patrapur, Sanakhemundi and Digapahandi blocks still do not have mobile service. In the rest of the blocks, connectivity remains a roadblock. In Kandhamal’s Belghar, Rayagada’s Chandrapur, Kalyansinghpur and parts of Muniguda blocks, students fail to avail adequate mobile networks.
“Children in rural areas are deprived of any means of learning and hoping for physical classes to resume. Adding to their difficulty is affordability of smartphones. The government must take an immediate call to find a permanent solution to this problem,” said Dr Gauranga Rout, an educationist based in Rayagada.
