Dimpi Das, a Class 10 student, lives in Kurua village in Darrang district, about 50 kms from Guwahati. There is a 4G mobile internet tower just 200 meters away from her home. Yet the 15-year-old has not attended a single online class in the last 15 months, as her father - a daily-wage worker - cannot afford a smartphone.
Dimpi, however, has managed to "attend" a few classes beamed on FM network on her father's basic mobile handset.
"We don't have TV or mobile since my father is only a daily wager. We can't afford such luxury. My father did get a normal phone and I was able to listen to some of the evening radio classes. I am not alone struggling to continue my studies. There are 10 to 12 students around here who are having same problem as they don't own a digital device for online classes," Dimpi Das told NDTV.
Dimpi Das is among the thousands of students bereaved of online classes that have been the preferred form of medium amid the Covid pandemic.
"This is a big reason of worry for us as children would fail to continue their curriculum if this continues and schools don't open. We are poor people, we can't buy these smartphones," Dimpi's father Kargeshwar Das added.
Dimpi's next-door neighbour, 13-year-old Banashri Das is also in Class 10 and struggling with online classes. Her father had lost his job in the nearby industrial zone during the first wave of the pandemic. The family borrowed money to buy a smartphone so Banashri does not have to miss online classes but constant internet recharges have added to their financial strain.
"During the first wave of lockdown I had no means to do online classes. Now my parents managed a smart phone but internet pack ends fast and we always don't have money to recharge," Banashri Das told NDTV.
Her mother, who is a cloth weaver says lockdown has pushed them into poverty and paying Rs 300 to 500 for mobile internet recharge is difficult.
"Her father does not get work every day - just once in three days. Thus running the house is difficult. Managing two square meal is a challenge now. I used to earn by weaving cloths, now even I can't go out to sell the clothes," said Sabya Das.
Assam has over 60 lakhs students in schools including both the government-run and the private ones.
A survey of Annual Status of Education report (ASER -Rural), 2020 had found that only one in every two government school students in Assam have access to a smartphone for online classes and three in every four students in private schools have a digital device.
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