Online education in the State has put the students and their parents in a quandary. Poor connectivity and unaffordability of parents to buy smartphones and Wi-Fi connection for their children has been the bane of the online classes. Due to fluctuation in network, students miss their regular classroom learning. It is learnt that in their quest for internet connectivity students from villages close to Netravali wildlife sanctuary in Sanguem risk their lives to wild animals besides anti-social elements as they enter the forest area. It is understood that the newly installed BSNL tower in the area is non-functional. Just a week into the new academic year, a Candolim-based school had to shut down a virtual class after a hacker disrupted an online learning class with vulgar images. After the school management lodged a complaint with the police, an offence was registered under Section 67 (A) of the IT Act 2000 against an unknown person. Unless the culprit is booked for the offence, more such cases of hacking could occur in the future. All said and done, the online classes which are scheduled to continue during this academic year, is fraught with several shortcomings which will adversely affect the students’ education unless corrective measures are taken by the authorities to streamline it at the earliest.
