No Net, Lahaul teachers on students’ doorstep

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, June 27

Poor Net connectivity in remote villages of Lahaul-Spiti has forced teachers to visit the homes of students for school work. With the schools shut since March because of the Covid pandemic, the HP Education Department has begun holding classes online, but a large section of pupils has neither smartphones nor the Internet facility in their residential areas.

Sources told The Tribune that teachers in Lahaul-Spiti had to traverse a distance of at least 10 km, often on foot, to deliver school work to their students residing in isolated villages. “They make videos and share these with students, using the bluetooth technology,” an official explained.

The Deputy Director, Elementary and Higher Education, Samritika Negi, said the teachers in the tribal district were doing their best to impart education with the help of technology, “voluntarily” delivering the study material, including videos, to the students at their homes. “They deserve praise for their extraordinary efforts,” she added.