Online learning out of reach for many

For 10-year-old Yash, the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is exposing the divide between him and his peers. His classmates at Apeejay School, Panchsheel Park, are beginning their new academic year through online classes, logging into a school portal on laptops and tablets. In the two-room home that Yash shares with his widowed mother and elder brother Karthik in Jagdamba Camp, a basti near Sheikh Sarai, Yash knows there is no money for such devices. "They are starting online classes through Zoom because we cannot go to school. The school has told us how to log in to the portal, there is a password. But I don't have any way to take part. My mother doesn't even have a smartphone," says the Class 5 student who was admitted to the prestigious private school under the quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Since his father died two years ago, the family has been dependent on his mother Santosh's widow pension of ₹2,500 a month and the goodwill of relatives. "Because of this lockdown, the rest of the family is also facing financial hardship, so I feel guilty for depending on them. When I am worrying about their food, I cannot… Read full this story

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