Student from Karimnagar turns daily wager to buy smartphone for online classes

A Class 10 student of Zilla Parishad High School in Odyaram of Karimnagar district turned as a daily wage labourer to buy a smartphone for online classes. Sirra Shivaram was unable to access the online classes with no smartphone.

Shivaram's father too is a daily wage labourer and his mother is bed-ridden. His father earns Rs 300 to Rs 400 per day which is barely sufficient to the family and sometimes he would get no work.

The boy's family is not in a position to afford a smartphone and neither his father phone could support online classes. Shivaram was upset over his absence to the classes while all his friends have already joined them.

The student who used to work as a painter to support his family during holidays has decided to work again to buy a smartphone for online classes as he already missed classes for a month. He then joined for work on sand lorries for loading and unloading sand and also took up other works like painting the walls. "I used to get Rs 300 to Rs 400 per day and after a month I managed to save Rs 10,000 and bought a phone for Rs 9,000," Shivaram said.

Online classes for the students are being telecasted on T-SAT, doordarshan and YouTube as the schools were closed due to the COVID pandemic.