Amitha Muraleedharan
The Allahabad High Court queried the government about the steps taken to bridge the enormous gap in the availability of digital resources among children in urban and rural areas during the COVID-19 era.
The court, while expressing its concerns, summoned the Director-General Education and Secretary Basic Education to present the government side.
The order was passed by the bench led by Justice Ajit Kumar while hearing the application for amendment of the high court order in the Divya Goswami case linked to transfer of council teachers in inter-district.
Advocate Naveen Kumar Sharma, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the government wants to amend it.
The Court stated that the government gave many statements about the inter-district transfer but, the date for reopening the schools was not yet announced.
The Court also raised the issue of technical imbalance prevailing in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The Court said that there is a discriminatory line between the rural and urban areas. Every house in urban areas has advanced digital facilities like phones so that the children can study properly.
But the government does not make any implementation for those areas where children are deprived of such facilities.
The Court also observed that the schools are closed due to the pandemic so the government can employ some teachers in the rural area against the imbalance in educational facilities.
The teachers can go to the village and can teach in groups.
The Court has summoned the Director-General and Secretary of Basic Education in December to collect details about the primary education in the state.