Digital India? Odisha Students Travel To School To Attend YouTube Classes

There is no denying of the fact that the pandemic has disrupted education. Online classes have become the new norm. However, not everyone is benefiting from it, thanks to the digital divide. Recently, a picture of a man in Karnataka holding an umbrella over his daughter to shield her from rainfall while she was attending her classes went viral. 

While many lauded the man for being a dutiful father, the fact remains that poor internet connectivity forced the girl to step outside her house to attend classes.

In Odisha's Koraput district, students of a school have been forced to come to school since Monday, June 21, to attend the online classes, reported Hindustan Times . 

Students of primary school and high school in the campus of Project Upper Primary school in Ankadeli area of Lamtaput block at Koraput district have been coming to school as they are unable to attend the classes that the school and mass education department started through Youtube live streaming.  

Schools and colleges across Odisha have remained closed for months in view of the COVID pandemic. To continue with classes, the state government kicked off online YouTube live streaming of classes 1-10. While online classes for 1-8 are being held



in only eight districts, the same sessions for classes 9-10 are being organised in all 30 districts. 

On Tuesday, Payal Majhi, a student of Class 9 in the high school travelled from her home in Machhkund area to the school as the BSNL tower could not provide the required bandwidth for the session. 

"I had to come to school as my mobile is not able to stream the Youtube classes. We also need a big data pack. We have a broadband at school which is good enough for the live stream," said Majhi. Like her, several other students too travelled to school with their mobile so as not to miss out on the session. 

Koraput District Education Officer Ramachandra Nahak said that though he is not aware of children going to school to attend online classes, he knew about network connectivity being an issue in several blocks like Narayanpatna, Bandhugaon, Lamtaput and Boipariguda. 

According to the state's Economic Survey for 2018-19, Odisha has a teledensity of 79.58 per cent compared to the national average of 91.09 per cent. It also has fewer internet subscriptions when compared with the national average. 

Odisha has only 28.22 internet subscribers for a population of 100, compared to the national average of 38.02.