Delhi Pollution: Students in slum areas face accessibility challenges as schools go online

With Delhi schools switching over to online teaching due to high pollution levels, students living in the city’s slum areas are facing significant accessibility challenges.

Several parents and students raised concerns saying many children are unable to attend classes regularly due to the dearth of smartphones, stable internet connections or multiple devices in their households.

Families living in Lalbagh slum near Delhi’s Azadpur area are struggling to adapt to limited resources, forcing children to share phones, miss lessons or entirely forego online school.

Soni Kumari, a 39-year-old mother of two who lives in Lalbagh, shared her struggles with managing online classes for her children due to limited access to mobile phones.

Also Read: Delhi’s quick fix for pollution: Can 10,000 volunteers bring about an effective change?

“I have only one mobile phone, which makes it difficult for my two daughters to attend their online classes. When their classes overlap, they fight over who gets to use the phone.

“If schools resumed offline classes, both of them would be able to study properly,” she said, while sweeping in front of her home.

Nine-year-old Krish, waiting for his friends to go out to play, said his mother has one phone which she takes to her work. He, therefore, fails to attend his online classes.

“I can’t attend online classes because my mother takes her phone to work. For me, online school feels like a holiday because I spend the whole day playing with my friends,” he said.

A walk through the Lalbagh slum revealed groups of children playing outside. While some played cricket, others were seen playing badminton.

Similarly, Anu, an 11-year-old, who was playing with her younger sister, said her parents have two phones but one is a basic phone so her elder sister and she attend online classes on alternative days.

“Today, my sister, who is in class 6, is attending her classes. So I’m looking after my younger sister because my mother is at work,” she said.

Sunita, a 35-year-old mother, said pollution does not bother them much anymore.

“We have been living here for the past eight years, surrounded by a sewer on one side and piles of garbage on the other. But what is worrying us is that my child is not able to attend online classes as we do not have a smartphone,” she said.

Sunita said she only has one feature phone.

Also Read: A taste of Kashmir: Jhelum food festival brings the Valley to Gurugram

“If the government keeps schools online for 15 days, that means my child will miss 15 days of lessons,” she said, expressing her concern.

A tea-seller in Lalbagh, busy serving his customers, said his child’s online classes get disrupted due to poor internet connection in the area.

On Sunday, air quality in Delhi was recorded in the severe category, prompting authorities to impose the GRAP-IV measures. On Monday and Tuesday, it worsened further, reaching the severe plus category, with the AQI exceeding 450.

With the AQI crossing 450, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the National Capital Region (NCR) and adjoining areas ordered the implementation of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage-IV restrictions in Delhi-NCR.