This became evident during the recently announced CET, where only a few rural students have been able to crack. Earlier, when classes and coaching were conducted offline, rural students performed better, and were even able to secure ranks.
Akash, (name changed), a science student from Belthangady, dreamed of joining a professional course after scoring well in CET. “Now my dream is shattered, as I have not secured enough marks to get admission in an engineering college,” he said. “Our students were able to secure ranks within 10,000 in the days before the pandemic. However, this year he has secured a rank above 40,000. The main reason for this is the shift from offline learning to online, and students in rural areas have been affected due to connectivity issues. “Students from rural areas are most affected as compared to their counterparts from urban areas,” said Daymani, principal of Shree Sharda Mahila PU College in Sulia. He said Sulia taluk is the most affected taluk when it comes to internet connectivity and power cuts.
“Some villages have less than 10 hours of electricity supply in a day. Whenever there is a power cut, there is no network. We used to do four hours of online coaching for CET. Students could attend classes of only two hours, as there were issues with data and connectivity,” she said.
Since many rural students have not written or performed poorly in CET, they have opted for other courses including ITI and Diploma. Yusuf, principal of Government PU College, B Mooda, Bantwal taluk, says that it is not only the online classes, but the students are also facing financial issues. “Many rural students did not register to take the competitive exams as their homes were facing financial crunch. They would not have been able to pay for a seat even if they had secured a good rank,” he said.
The head of an aided college said, “Every year we collect data of students appearing for CET, but this year it is not available, as candidates have not informed us about their registration.”
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