On April 13, the government issued a statement: “Govt schools go mobile, teachers innovative”.
It talked about the start of tele-classes and e-learning initiatives, enabling the students of government schools in Jammu and Kashmir to study at home during the lockdown announced to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Principal Secretary School Education, Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon also directed starting the online virtual classes through different platform like WhatsApp, Zoom Cloud, Skype, Google Classroom to reach out to the Children, the statement added.
Subsequent to it, many schools tried to do their bit as they formed different groups of students and teachers and formed a timetable for virtual classes.
However, there is a twist. The slow internet speed is playing a spoil spot. There is buffering and these applications pause mid-task to the annoyance of both teacher and the teacher. In other words it defeats what was otherwise a commendable endeavour by those who wanted to lessen the impact of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The endeavour had acknowledged the possibility that the pandemic has changed how students are educated around the world. It not only would help students to pick the thread of education at home but also helps them meet stiff targets of the syllabi.
While everyone was hoping that the government would lift the ban on high speed internet which now runs into 9th month, the reasons to continue it defy rationale on many counts.
The militancy is nothing new in Kashmir and existed prior to the ban on internet on August 5 last year. Why would government use it as a reason to ban for preventing “coordination of militant activities now?”
Other reason cited is last week’s participation of “over 500 villagers at the funeral of a (militant), defying the lock-down and throwing social-distancing norms to the wind”. The explanation that it was due to the use social media applications that photographs of the militants were circulated and crowds mobilized hold little water as the incident in reference happed last week while the ban existed.
The government order again claimed that the speed restrictions have not posed any hindrance to COVID-19 control measures. Perhaps, the official machinery is using high speed internet and as such unable to realize the problems encounter by the people. To conclude it otherwise perhaps is pointless. Perhaps also, the government needs to give a relook to its latest order extending the restrictions until April 27 primarily to count the education of the students, who without any iota of doubt are nation’s builders.
Schooling ‘Offline’
