Assam Digital Divide: Village Students Get 4G Network, But No Smartphones

Only one in every two government school students in Assam have access to a smartphone for online classes, according to a survey of Annual Status of Education report.

Dimpi Das, a Class 10 student, lives in Kurua village in Darrang district, about 50 kms from Guwahati. There is a 4G mobile internet tower just 200 meters away from her home. Yet the 15-year-old has not attended a single online class in the last 15 months, as her father - a daily-wage worker - cannot afford a smartphone. Dimpi, however, has managed to "attend" a few classes beamed on FM network on her father's basic mobile handset. "We don't have TV or mobile since my father is only a daily wager. We can't afford such luxury. My father did get a normal phone and I was able to listen to some of the evening radio classes. I am not alone struggling to continue my studies. There are 10 to 12 students around here who are having same problem as they don't own a digital device for online classes," Dimpi Das told NDTV. Dimpi Das is among the thousands of students bereaved of online classes that have been the preferred form of medium amid the Covid pandemic.