Virudhunagar
B. Saritha, who is in her final year undergraduation, has not missed even a single working day in all her first two years of college.
But, when the online classes began after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, this student of Government Arts College in Chinnakamanpatti near Sattur had to miss classes for two weeks.
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“My family could not afford a smart mobile phone immediately. I had to wait for two weeks for it at the cost of missing classes for two weeks,” she said.
Saritha, who had completed her school from Government Higher Secondary School in N. Subbiahapuram near Sattur, was unlucky as the State government failed to issue her free laptop.
Like her, many students of Government schools were not given the free laptops meant for the higher secondary classes students in 2017-18. “Only two out of the five students who had opted for NEET coaching through government initiative were given laptops then. We were told we could not be given the laptops since the Parliamentary elections were held in 2019,” Ms. Saritha said.
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Though laptops have been distributed to three subsequent batches of students, the teachers had told these students that they have no order to distribute laptops to the 2017-18 batch students.
Some of the students, who are now in final year in college, submitted separate petitions to Virudhunagar Collector, R. Kannan, seeking the free laptops.
The students said that the laptops that was a pet project of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was aimed at giving better education to the students.
“The present government should immediately distribute the laptops at least now before the Assembly elections are announced. The laptops will be of great use for poor students like us,” she said.