Power, connectivity issues hinder online education in Ernakulam

KOCHI: Though the state government has been taking several measures to ensure access to online education for all students, digital divide is still an issue for many students in tribal settlements in the eastern sides of Ernakulam.
Though coordinated efforts of the scheduled tribe development department (STDD), education and forest departments have managed to provide digital gadgets to several students, the issue of poor connectivity remains a big challenge, especially in Kuttampuzha panchayat, where most of the tribal settlements are located.
According to STDD sources, only 30% of the total 802 tribal students in Kuttampuzha panchayat have at least partial access to internet connectivity. The rest of the students are struggling to attend the online classes.
“Severe connectivity issue is faced by students in Ponginchuvadu colony in Vengoor panchayat too that lies adjacent to Kuttampuzha panchayat. The only option available to these students is to either view recorded classes provided in pen drives by the education department or to depend on offline learning centres set up to avail classes for several students who don’t have access to digital education. However, due to high Covid TPR in Kuttampuzha, many such centre remain shut,” said an official.
STDD is in talks with the BSNL and other telecom providers to boost connectivity in around five colonies where there is only partial internet connectivity. Also talks are on with the BSNL to explore the possibility of providing temporary systems to provide wireless internet connectivity in some of the colonies.
The GPS coordinates of these colonies have been given to the BSNL and a detailed report will be available by next week.
Besides internet connectivity, lack of electricity is another challenge that hinders the online education. It is learnt that around seven tribal colonies in Kuttampuzha are yet to have electricity supply and the students here have no way to access online education.
“In those settlements where electricity supply is still not available, the possibility of installing small solar power plants is being considered. The meeting conducted by chief minister had asked to explore all possibilities to not just ensure internet connectivity but also power supply. As many of these colonies are in the interior forests, the only way to extend power lines is via underground cables. Though KSEB is exploring the possibility, the project is very costly. Besides solar energy, KSEB also looks at wind energy as an option,” said an STDD source.