Anantapur: Online education widens gap between rich & poor

Anantapur: The online education system will widen the gap between rich and poor children. While children from highly educated parents will continue to learn, the development of children from socially weaker backgrounds risks stagnating, causing the gap to widen.

First of all, it appears that children from socially weaker families have fewer opportunities for development outside school hours. In addition, following home education is difficult for this group because they more often do not have a computer, or there is no room at home for a quiet place to study, according to Dr M Suresh Babu, noted academician. Addressing a seminar on ' Digitalisation versus classroom education and its repercussions' organised by Academicians Forum here on Tuesday, Suresh Babu opined that online education can never replace classroom education especially for poorer sections who cannot afford a smart phone or purchase a computer or a laptop.

The talk of total digitalisation of education is absurd and it is nothing but slipping down to the era of the concept of mobile audio-visual education of yesteryears, he opined.

Social activist Virupaksha Reddy observed that in rural areas there is a rush in recent years, even among the poorest of the poor, to scrape up enough money to send their children to private schools. Education, as a result, has largely moved online. The World Economic Forum reports a surge in the use of language apps, virtual tutoring, video conferencing tools, and online learning software in the last two years. India, too, is witnessing an e-learning boom. Classes on Zoom, WhatsApp and Skype are becoming the norm for students, parents and teachers. Yet, this abrupt transition to online hardly compensates for the classroom experience, he pointed out.