CONG TO GOV.: STUDENTS HAVE NO NET ACCESS

In a representation to Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) on Saturday raised the issue of online classes during the lockdown.

Presenting the observations made by the TPCC’s Covid-19 task force on higher education, the state Congress brought to the fore the low attendance in online classes conducted by government and private colleges and said the possible reason was lack of internet access in rural areas and the inability of students to afford devices that would support software and applications for online classes.

“A vast majority of students who could not attend the online classes belong to the lower and deprived economic sections of society. If special care is not taken these students would not be on par with the rest of the students who were able to attend the online courses,” the committee said.

It further suggested the Governor to consider waiving the normal requirement of attendance for the students to be able to get their hall tickets and reconsider the syllabus covered under online classes to figure in proportion with the syllabus covered prior to the lockdown during exams.

It also suggested extending the choice to students to answer 33.3 per cent questions, instead of the earlier 50 per cent. It said a special drive needs to be undertaken to reach out with study material and lectures to all sections of students, especially those unable to attend online classes.