At a time when the Telangana government is pushing for online education from September 1 amid the pandemic, many are worried about the delivery of education due to internet accessibility and lack of gadgets in interior tribal regions of the state. Reportedly, around 1.32 lakh teachers are preparing to teach over 24 lakh students online across the state.
A team from the Progressive Democratic Students Union (V) and local students studied the situation for a week from August 20 to August 25 across Adilabad, KB Asifabad and Mancherial districts in areas which fall under the Utnoor ITDA (Integrated Tribal Development Agency) and Eturunagaram of Mulugu district to assess the ground reality when it comes to access to online education.
As per the report by the team released on Saturday, online education is inaccessible for the tribals as there is no cable or internet connectivity.
Rayi Seedam, a team member from Adilabad said that there are scores of villages and Adivasi hamlets that don't have mobile networks or DTH connectivity. "Parents are saying that the children fall back even when classes were being conducted normally. Things will only get worse if they have to study online,” he said.
He added that parents are saying that they are helpless, and are seeking an alternative mode of studying for their children.
The fact-finding team found that the family or relatives of less than 10% of students have smartphones which students require to access online education.
In Adilabad's Jilleda village, which is on the Maharashtra border, none of the parents of the 42 students between classes 1 and 5 have smartphones, the report said.
Activists suggest that the government instead hand over the task of teaching to local unemployed youth as Vidya Volunteers.
While primary school students are unable to get any access to the internet, students who are studying in Social Welfare or Tribal Welfare schools and colleges and are preparing for common entrance exams are facing difficulties in accessing material and guidance online.
In the Balanpur hamlet of Utnoor, three people who have completed their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees are teaching around 60 students informally as per their convenience as the students cannot access education online.
Speaking to TNM PDSU (V) General Secretary Anand said, “More than 90% of the hamlets in tribal agency areas have network issues. Even if a few of them have devices, they have to run around places to get signal.”
“The government should consider providing cable connectivity and give TV sets to each village for community learning. Smartphones or tablets should be given in areas where there is network and local graduates or postgraduates can be appointed to supervise learning centres with minimum training,” he added.
PDSU (V) further opined that neglecting the Adivasis neglects the right to education of thousands of Adivasi students. Telangana has a tribal population of around 31.78 lakh, comprising 9.08% of the state population. The historical educational backwardness of tribal communities such as Gonds, Guthikoyas, Pardhans, Nayakpods, Kolams, Gotis, Mannevar's and several others who live in Adilabad, KB Asifabad, erstwhile Khammam and Warangal is also adding to the woes of digital learning.