Covid-19 Impact: Tribal students struggle for education with no access to electricity, television or smartphone

Beating the odds, students from the tribal community have been excelling in the 10th and 12th exams this year. Students like Sridevi and Devayani have left a mark amidst the pandemic, scoring exceptionally well and having well deserved offers of scholarships and help come their way.

While these young students have let many others in their community dream, the pandemic seems to have quashed those dreams for now. With no electricity and devices, students are left to learn on their own in several villages.

Hariharan graduated to Class 10 this year, a very important year for him. But unfortunately, with no access to electricity or a smartphone, Hariharan hasn't started his learning properly yet.

With no classes, he doesn't know how he will write his board exams either. He tries making sense of his textbooks sitting in his thatched house beside the battery operated lamp in his house he uses while studying.

While a few of them have their textbooks, what they struggle



with in fact is the lack of teachers. They do not have anyone to explain concepts to them.

The TN government has initiated video recorded classes which they are set to distribute to 10th and 12th students. The government is also to run televised classes to help the students learn.

"Online classes have started. We don't have electricity, TV or a smart phone to study from. Next year I have exams and schools haven't reopened as well. The government has to do something for us," said Hariharan.

Many other children with no classes spend their day playing in the village. They still haven't figured out how they will study the rest of the year to get through school.

"They are asking us to use PDF and photocopies to study. I don't have a smart phone. How do we study?" asked Arun Kumar, another student from the village.

"They are asking us to take photocopies from school. We don't have electricity here. With schools shut, we don't have any other way to study," he added.