Even though the state government has ordered the education institutions to conduct online classes, students in tribal areas in the district are deprived of the facility.
The network coverage is so bad that people get mobile phone connectivity with a great difficulty. Under this condition, conducting online class is a mirage.
The students from the tribal hamlets said they could not attend a single online class, owing to network issues. Online classes are being conducted for Class 10, PU and degree students.
Forget about the online classes, there is no basic facilities such as housing and electricity in most of the tribal hamlets such as Bombuhadi, Brahmagiri Colony and Reshmehadlu, situated near Nagarahole forest. They opined that the online classes were not helping the children from the already under-privileged families.
Most of the children help their parents, who are daily wagers, to support the family. Due to this, high school teachers conducted classes for these students during nights, in the month of December last year, to prepare for Class X annual examinations.
Some students also stayed in hostels. But, as hostels and residential schools have been converted into quarantine centres in the wake of Covid-19 lockdown, the students are sent to their homes.
Children, who study in the high schools of Kutta, Srimangala, Hudikeri, Bekkesodluru, Balele, Titimati, Palibetta and Maldare regions, are not even familiar with the idea of online classes.
Timmaraju, a teacher at Balele Vijayalakshmi PU College, said that the government had announced the examination dates for Class 10. But, the students cannot be reached to convey the information. Even if they are intimated, there is no guarantee that they would appear for the examination, he said.
Children in Basaveshwara tribal hamlet are used to do their home work in front of the fireplace in kitchen, as there is no power connection in the hamlet. The condition of children in other tribal hamlets in the district is no different.
Timma, head of the tribal hamlet, lamented that there is absolutely no facility for children in the hamlet to prepare for Class 10 final exams.
The parents are not willing to send their children to the examination centres as wild elephant menace is on rise.
Earlier, students used to stay in the hostels and would go to schools to attend the examination, he added.
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