Government should provide equal opportunity for all: Stalin on virtual classes

‘Online classes are not for all,’ proclaimed DMK President M K Stalin, urging the government to first ascertain if all students have the financial capabilities to move into the new format of education before launching it.

Referring to the death of Nithyashree, a college student from Mettunanavaram village near Ulundurpet who committed suicide as her father could buy only one smartphone for his three daughters, Stalin said it was a heart-wrenching incident.

Nithyashree’s sisters were in class ten and twelve and the dispute over who would use the phone if online classes were conducted for all three of them at the same time led to suicide, Stalin said in a statement on Wednesday.

There could be more such students who cannot afford a smartphone and without the resources to have a proper connectivity, he said. The government had shifted to online classes with ensuring that all students could access the facility, he said.

While he made it clear that he was not against the idea of conducting online classes during the lockdown, he said the government should create equal opportunities for all before moving fully into the new system.