Rayagada Aug 19 : A 13-year-old tribal student in Odisha’s backward Rayagada block died when the boulder he was sitting on to attend his online classes rolled down on Tuesday evening, police said.
Officials said Andrea Jagaranga(13) of Kandhapendaraguda village in Padmapur block of Rayagada district had gone to the nearby hill with his friends to attend online class due to poor network connectivity in the village.
Police sub-inspector of Padmapur police station, Hiren Bhati, said Jagaranga was attending his class sitting on a big boulder at around 5 p.m. yesterday when it suddenly started rolling down following heavy rain. ‘The boy then hit a tree stump which tore through his right leg, critically injuring him. The boy was first admitted to a local hospital. But he died while being shifted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur town,’ said Bhati.
Jagaranga was a student of Cuttack Missionary School , but was back at his village after physical classes were suspended due to Covid-19. Like other students in the locality with poor connectivity he used to climb a hill near the village to attend online classes.
Jagaranga’s father, Narahari Jagaranga, said his son was forced to climb the hill in search of mobile signal.
Students in rural area of Odisha have been at the receiving end of a digital divide. As per Odisha Economic Survey, 2018-19, report, more than 20% of the 51,311 villages in the state did not have mobile phone connectivity. And internet penetration in the state is 28.22% compared to the national average of 38.02. The school and mass education department of the state admitted that online education did not reach at least a third of 6 million school students last year.
In Koraput district, students have been forced to access mobile networks from towers in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh by sitting on roads, while in Sundargarh district, they cross into Jharkhand border. Last month, Kavita Nisika, a Kondh tribal girl in Rayagada, rented a one-room house on rent in the district headquarters, so as to get on the grid.
The Odisha government has been live-streaming lessons for Classes 1 to 10 on YouTube and now plans to start online classes for higher secondary students through YouTube.
Last month, the Odisha state commission for protection of child rights asked the district administration of Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Rayagada to ensure mobile connectivity for students to take online classes.
‘Students are facing immense problem in tribal-dominated areas due to poor mobile connectivity. Children are preparing for different entrance exams and are heavily dependent on online classes. They often trek to nearby hills or climb trees to access mobile network. In the Covid-19 scenario, with schools closed, children are struggling for good education. But in this case, they can’t as mobile network has come up as an issue which is affecting online classes in districts,’ the commission wrote to the collectors.