Restor 4G internet service for students immediately : PSAJK Chief tells JK Govt

Srinagar: Private Schools Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) Saturday called on the government to immediately restore the high-speed 4G mobile internet connectivity in Kashmir as students are continuously being denied the right to education, both in offline and online mode.
In a statement issued here on Saturday the association said that it is extremely saddening to see that government doesn’t have an iota of concern to help students at this crucial juncture.
“They are always at the forefront of closing down educational institutes. Be it curfews, post-august situation or now coronavirus scare, our children have been denied education for the last more than seven months,” said G N Var president PSAJK.
“There may be compulsion or the many reasons which they give to justify the closure of schools but when it comes to helping students they simply dont care. Online education could have heavily compensated for the losses of children but unfortunately the government is in mood to relent or even acknowledge it,” he said.
The association said that on one hand government says everything has been normal for the last seven months and on the other hand they have been restricting high speed mobile internet causing a severe blow to online education sector here.
“All the government claims of smart classrooms, online lectures, student exchange ideas have been trashed. The internet blockade is ensuring that Kashmiri students don’t get opportunity to gain knowledge from the treasure of online education,” said Var. “It is like we are still living in Stone Age,” Var added.
The association called on the government to immediately restore the high speed mobile internet so that students don’t lose this year too.
“Like in Kashmir, schools have been closed in many countries too but the difference is that in other countries students get to educate themselves via online classes or tools but Kashmir is the only place where government ensures that there is ban on offline as well as online education. International experts have repeatedly said that best way to counter loss of school days is to teach children through online classes and many countries are doing it to minimise losses,” said Var.
“In the absence of classes for so many months, lot of problems are arising in students. The students have nothing to do and any gap in education will be hard for schools to fill at the later stage. Students are out of touch of their books and that doesn’t bode well for them,” he added.
The Association said that in the absence of online education the students wouldn’t be able to compete in competitive examinations sending the education sector back by many years. “For coaching, training and education, high speed internet connectivity is must. If government doesn’t want to darken the future of our young generation then they must restore the internet connectivity immediately,” said Var