From treetop to rooftop: Kerala students find innovative ways for e-learning, overcoming poor connectivity

Namitha, a degree student of Malappuram, sitting on rooftop for good online connectivity for e-learning. Photo: Sakeer Hussain

Namitha, a degree student of Malappuram, sitting on rooftop for good online connectivity for e-learning. Photo: Sakeer Hussain

Treesa, a tenth-standard student, and her younger sister Ansiya, who is in the fourth standard, are often seen pulling a rope tied to the top of a tree with a bag on the other end in the premises of their house in the hilly district of Idukki in Kerala these days.

One may think that the children are trying to pluck fruits. But it isn't so. They are using an innovative technique to download online study materials sent by teachers as the internet connectivity in their region is very feeble.

While Kerala commenced the fresh academic year amid the lockdown through online education from June 1, scores of students were finding it difficult to get access to online classes owing to poor internet connectivity. Namitha, a degree student at Malappuram district was recently seen sitting on the tiled slope rooftop of her house with notebooks and mobile phone for her online classes owing to poor connectivity in her house.

P K Varghese, father of Treesa and Ansiya, from Mukkalam, around 100 kilometres from Idukki town, told DH that on seeing the children's plight, he came up with the idea of pulling the mobile phone to the top of a tree for downloading study materials. The children had to go to a spot away from the house to get good connectivity for downloading study materials. But it became very difficult because of the rains. Hence he tried the treetop method, which is working.

After clicking download on the mobile phone, the phone will be placed in a basket tied to the end of a rope which is attached to the tree top using a pulley. The children will then pull the other end of the rope so that the basket reaches the treetop and the study materials get downloaded.

Even then, the students are not able to attend live interactive classes through this technique. Poor internet connectivity was also affecting many people of the locality, especially farmers and traders. Though the issue was taken up with mobile service providers many times, there were no corrective steps, said Varghese.

Meanwhile, degree student Namitha of Areekal in Malappuram district got some relief as some mobile companies took steps to provide connectivity after her picture on the rooftop went viral.

A preliminary assessment by the government had found that over 2.6 lakh of the 45 lakh odd school students in the state have no access to online classes. A student from a Dalit family ended life allegedly owing to mental trauma because of the unavailability of e-learning facilities. Hence the government is now setting up community learning facilities at remote areas.