Left behind

Last year, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, all schools remained close for more than seven months. Elite private schools that had resources conducted online sessions with ease. Since these schools have children from financially strong households, the academic session continued without any hiccups. On the other hand, there were a large number of students who had to discontinue their education because their parents didn’t have enough resources to help them attend online classes. There are a large number of households with no laptops or a spare smartphone. These students were left behind. It is quite shocking that the government didn’t think about the education of the underprivileged. The lockdown period has passed, and schools have been reopened. But these students still stay at home because they don’t have enough resources for readmission. Where is the government? Why are we not taking timely steps to ensure that every child is going to school? The federal and provincial governments need to sit together and come with a proper plan to deal with this situation.

Imtiaz Kamran

Karachi