As government schools across Karnataka reopen for the new academic year 2021-22 for online classes, a government survey taken up based on a High Court directive has highlighted the gap in access to technology. The Department of Public Instruction’s district-level report on the availability of gadgets and the internet has found that more than 37.8 lakh students out of the 93 lakh students surveyed, or close to 40%, did not have internet connectivity. The report added that 31.3 lakh students, or 33%, did not have access to digital devices like phones, tablets and laptops, and about 8.6 lakh had no radio or television in their homes.
The government survey was conducted for students of classes 1 to 10 following directions by the Karnataka High Court, to collect data on the access that students have to technology. A report by Bar and Bench stated that during a hearing on June 8, the state government had submitted to the court that about 20% of students did not have access to technology to enable them to participate in online education. The findings of the report suggest that the actual figure seems to be much higher and also highlight inconsistencies in the system of remote learning.
As per recent government data, Karnataka has over one crore children who are enrolled in classes 1 to 10 as of this year. The report suggests that a large number of students, especially those in government schools, are being deprived of a chance at a formal education due to the digital divide worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The district of Uttara Kannada has a comparatively lower number of students with about 1.1 lakh in total, of which 42,309 do not have access to the internet. In Kalaburagi district, 1.7 lakh out of the total 5.4 lakh students don’t have internet and 1.4 lakh students don’t have smartphones or tablets. Ballari district has over 2.6 lakh students without an internet connection, 2.2 lakh without electronic devices, and 44,295 with no radio or television sets. The respective figures in Vijayapura district, with a total of over 5 lakh students, are 2.2 lakh, 1.8 lakh, and 75,419, indicating that almost half the students have no internet for online classes.
On the other hand, Bengaluru Urban (South) has the highest number of students among all districts. With a total of 11.2 lakh students, more than 8 lakh of them have either smartphones or tablets, while 1.4 lakh do not. Almost 7 lakh students have net connections while about 2 lakh students lack connectivity. Similarly, Bengaluru Urban (North) district has about 7 lakh students of which 5.3 lakh have digital devices, 1.5 lakh have internet, 6 lakh have televisions, and 1 lakh have radio sets.
Government schools that began online classes from July 1 have been asked to use modes like WhatsApp, YouTube, and DD Chandana television channels. Teachers have been directed to check and group the students, according to the availability of devices and facilities. To those children who don’t have access to any of these mediums, teachers have been asked to request parents to get help from people in the neighbourhood who have internet or any of the specific devices.
In 2020, the state government had launched Vidyagama, an educational programme to reach out to students initially in open grounds, followed by on school campuses. The initiative was a step that proved to tackle the issues underlined by the newly released report. However, it was discontinued owing to the second wave and it is unlikely that offline classes will restart anytime soon.