The university is conducting the semester exams online in June for over 24,000 undergraduate students
A bunch of college students in a remote village in Mizoram are trekking up and down a hill daily. Reason: they have to take their online semester exams and the Internet reception is either non-existent or poor.
The lack of Internet connectivity in the remote Mawhrei village in Saiha district, about 400 kilometres from Aizawl, has forced seven Mizoram University students to climb the Tlao Tla hill, the only spot near the village with decent Internet reception.
A makeshift bamboo hut with banana leaves on top provides them protection from inclement weather. They sit huddled together inside the hut and write their undergraduate exams.
"Mawhrei is a remote village in Saiha district and is completely surrounded by hills, so there is no Internet connectivity in our village," says KL Vabeihruasa, a student of the village.
The university is conducting the semester exams online in June for over 24,000 undergraduate students across the state.
At a time when the nation is waiting for a 5G network, this village with a population of 1,700 just has an erratic 2G connectivity.
"Today we came to see how the students are writing the exams on hill top. There is no 4G network in the village, but here the network is stable...we appeal to the government to solve this problem," said N Beirasachai of the Mara Students' Organisation.