Digital Divide: A Perspective From Jammu & Kashmir
Aqib Yousuf, Abass Rather
The Indian government’s announcement to switch from physical to virtual classrooms during the COVID-19 related lockdown is considered by many as a step towards “digital revolution” in the country. The government is being looked at as one that does not compromise on education and saves students from suffering because of the pandemic and the consequent lockdown. Digital classes have taken the place once occupied by physical classes.
However, the feasibility of this idea comes under question when the prerequisite to be able to utilise these facilities, i.e. having robust technological infrastructure, is not put in place. For e-learning and online examinations to become a pan-India phenomenon, all teachers and students require easy and affordable access to the internet, in addition to the gadgets that are needed for these things to function on. Apart from this, it is imperative to have an ambience where teacher-student relations are not hampered with. The progress and emancipation of any nation or society requires an unbiased understanding of common issues. Imparting quality education to all citizens is a fundamental right under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution. However, before implementation of any new method for teaching, standard norms and monitoring mechanisms need to be regulated by the government.
India is a country of approximately 1.35 billion belonging to varied socio-economic backgrounds. A majority of its citizens live in the countryside and for any important decision taken by the government, like stepping into online education for example, it should have taken cognizance of this majority. However, as one can see, the central government’s recent decision to take to online education ignores a vast number of people who do not have access to the resources to avail the gadgets required for it.
The National Statistical Organisation’s (NSO) 75th round survey on ‘Social Consumption of Education in 2017-18’ had looked into households’ ownership of computers and access to the internet. The analysis only includes households which had students aged between 5-29 years and were currently enrolled and attending school. The survey shows that only 8.3% of households had computers and 21.6% had access to the internet. It is evident therefore, that holding online classes and exams is discriminatory and even illegal – as it violates Article 14 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees equality before law.
Javid Ahmad Dar, Professor of Political Science at Kashmir University writes that this very “popular” initiative of e-classes aims at ‘universalisation’ of not education, but the Internet and gadgets. It implies that the poor, who are likely to face the most of the economic brunt of this global pandemic, would be required, if they dream of education at all, to pool their assets for the education of their children, and forget about their livelihood.”
The incorporation of Article 21A in the Indian Constitution as a fundamental right which provides free and compulsory education to all its citizens from the age group of 6-14, gives ample opportunity to the marginalised section of the society. Centrally-sponsored schemes like mid-day meals encourage the poorest section of the society to admit their children in schools. Serving two purposes, therefore: Firstly, they get enough food to survive and secondly, they receive education they rightly deserve. However, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and the related lockdown have hit them hard. Due to the shutting of schools, the poor, who depend on schools for their meals, have become the worst sufferers. Does it sound logical or feasible for the downtrodden of society, whose primary concern now is to have food for the stomach, to get access to digital equipment for their children to remain in competition for receiving quality education? The digital divide here is quite obvious and clear.
It is evident that the Modi-government’s idea to take to online education in a country with no proper technological infrastructure is exclusively focused on the elites with means to access everything digital, trampling on the lives of the socio-economically marginalised. The gap, which ideally needs to be lessened between the haves and have-nots, is disproportionately widening. Education, a tool that should lessen this gap, in the hands of a callous and corporate government, is unfortunately widening the same.
Gaurav Sikka, Assistant Professor of Geography at the Lalit Narayan Mithila University in Bihar’ Darbhanga, claimed that the online mode of teaching is widening the social and gender divide. Talking to NewsClick, he said, “I teach a majority of students who hail from conservative families where the parents have no idea that the students can take classes online. Thus, they are denying the girl students access to mobile phones. Similarly, another student told me that he could not take classes because he was busy with his family in harvesting the crop. Now, even if I wish to assist this boy, I cannot because there is hardly any internet connectivity and half of the data vanishes in just one class.”
Situation in Jammu and Kashmir
The situation in Jammu and Kashmir is not very different from the rest of India. However, the discriminatory attitude of the government against the students and the general of this region has reached the highest level.
On August 5, 2019, internet and voice calling were snapped in Jammu and Kashmir, following the abrogation of Article 370 and these are yet to be fully restored. No stone was left unturned while demanding for the restoration of 4G here, from the lower levels of administration to the Supreme Court of India, but all those efforts are yet to see success. The situation in Jammu and Kashmir is deplorable and pathetic, particularly for its students, who have been suffering for the last 30 years, in one way or the other. Now, the adamant attitude of the administration, which continues to follow the undemocratic diktats of the government, adds to the suffering of J & K’s students. The abrupt and frequent snapping of 2G (which is not enough to run the video lecture smoothly anyway), in the midst of online lectures, makes the situation very difficult for students and teachers. It must be added that the speed of the internet here has not risen from 2G to 4G since last year.
The campaign to point out the shortcomings of online education and examinations, led by prominent students’ organisations like the Students Federation of India (SFI), the All India Students Association (AISA), the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the like, gained much support from across the country. These organisations and unions declared May 20 as a ‘National Protest Day’ to garner attention towards the problems faced particularly by students during the COVID-19 related lockdown.
It is not only connectivity and the unavailability of gadgets that is an issue, but many teachers who need assistance have not been receiving it and therefore, are not able to use technology on their own. Teachers, particularly in rural areas, are facing problems in handling the tools. They do not feel at ease in delivering online classes. The ease of the physical classroom can not be taken over by virtual ones. More than anything else, the ambience for a healthy teacher-student interaction is crucial, which cannot be seen in the digital mode.
Jitendra Meena, who teaches History at Shyam Lal College, University of Delhi told Newsclick that, “for the first ten minutes, you can check if everyone has joined and whether all can hear your voice etc. I teach a class of almost hundred students but on your personal computer, you only see a few faces. Now, you really do not know if everyone is understanding the topic or not. At the end of the class, it feels like you have only given information… Some complain about connectivity, some do not have smart phones. Even if they have both, then you need a space where you can attend the class with concentration.”
There is a fundamental contradiction between physical and virtual classrooms. Critical and analytical discussions in the physical classroom develop spontaneously and become a two-way process, but in a virtual classroom, the process remains almost one-way. Digital learning, as of now, does not seem to be guided by standard norms or regulations by authorities; no monitoring mechanism or any kind of assessment. Teachers share their lessons and study material on WhatsApp or some other application. The process of two-way interaction and consequent development of discussion takes a step back. The main drawback of digital classes under the current circumstances when the state lacks technological infrastructure and economic stability is that it ignores the majority and benefits only a few.
Aqib Yousuf is a Law student at Kashmir University, based in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
Abass Rather is a socio-political activist based in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
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