Students in Zunheboto log in from hilltop for online exams

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Aug. 22 (EMN): Online classes and examinations continue to be a struggle for students in remote areas of Nagaland; and while the majority of the students do not own a smartphone, even the handful that do, face the issue of poor network coverage.

Pictures and video clips of students from Tsuruhu village in Zunheboto district writing examinations in the forest have been widely circulated on social media platforms; it showed how the villagers found a unique solution to tackle the poor internet connectivity.

It was a daily hike for the students, as young as 9-year-old, to walk and climb 3-15 km to the hilltop to access the internet for their online classes and exams. The spot has now turned into a camp for the students.

Tsuruhu Baptist Church pastor, Shikavi Awomi, joined forces with the students and built a small camp in the only area where internet is accessible.

Awomi, in the video, can be heard saying that since there was no network coverage in the village, he would ‘hover around in search of network’.

He claimed to have discovered the ‘network coverage spot by chance in the forest while collecting soil’.

The pastor said that along with the students’ union, they provided smartphones to the students, which have helped them to communicate with their teachers while appearing online exams.

The parents, for the sake of education, were also supportive of the initiative, although their children had to walk to the hilltop, he said.

Every morning, the students have to walk for 30 minutes, and for some an hour, to reach the area located in the dense forest of the village.

A class 10 student said, “We don’t have enough smartphones in our village that is why our pastor and the students’ union took the initiative so that we can cope with our needs.”

“Because of rains, we aren’t able to give our exams on time,” a student of Class 6 can be seen saying in the video.

“Everyone must be wondering why we are giving exams in the middle of the forest. The reason being no access to the internet in our village. For us to take the online exam, we do not have enough smartphones. The students’ union and our pastor, they have provided us with cell phones for our online exams,” a class 12 student said.

Members of the students’ union cleared some areas of the forest and installed benches for the students to sit. Although there were problems, ‘the students were enthusiastic’.