Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha on Thursday, February 10, urged the Centre to immediately reopen all colleges and universities, stating that online education is not interactive and children's learning has been severely affected due to the COVID pandemic.

Making a Zero Hour mention, Jha said that students have not been getting education for the last almost two years due to closure of educational institutions. He also called for the immediate shut down of online colleges and universities.

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"This is causing damage to education and students are suffering," he said. "I urge the government to immediately open all universities and colleges in the country," he said in his submission.

He said that many students do not have digital access and due to this, they are unable to get an education. He said that as a teacher himself, he has seen students switching their videos off.

Imparting education through the online mode is not interactive, he said. "This is the biggest impediment in knowledge production and sharing, and I urge the government to send a message to everyone by starting education in the offline mode," he stated. He also called for reopening of all hostels in educational institutions.