No Country for the Unconnected – Students Suffer (Online Classes) Due to Lack of Access to Networks in North Bengal
“Online Classes” was a term added to the popular lexicon after the COVID pandemic forced schools and colleges across the country to shut down. Today almost everything is being done online – schooling, office work, meetings, and sometimes even wedding ceremonies. The digital world is a great equalizer, it provides equal opportunities for all, as long as they are connected to the network. Tragically for the majority of students from Darjeeling hills, Terai, and Dooars accessing the network itself is a battle, they keep on losing. Other than those lucky few who live in towns, or on the right side of the mountain where network signals are strong, the majority of the people from rural regions here do not have access to cellular networks.