Students from poor families in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur face difficulties in attending online classes as many of them do not have smartphones or are facing network issues.
According to Amit Rai, a teacher in Gorakhpur, most families do not have enough money to buy a mobile phone. Speaking to the media, Rai said, "We are conducting online classes on WhatsApp and 70-80 students are connected with us but only 15-16 are receiving the material. There is 70-75 per cent of students who do not have access to any smartphone or network or WhatsApp due to the financial condition of their families." Where some students do not have smartphones to attend their classes, there are many who are suffering to manage one or two devices with many. "We only have one phone in our family which our father takes with him. We are four siblings including me and we study one-by-one," said class 6 student Aradhana.
