COVID-19 pandemic | When there is a will, there is a way: Rajasthan boy scales mountain daily to get network for online classes

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A young Rajasthani lad has been scaling a mountain daily for the past one and a half months to make sure he can attend online classes, as schools continue to be shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Academia has suffered greatly since the novel coronavirus pandemic in the country and has brought school education to a standstill for months now. While most educational institutes have been conducting online classes to ensure the students do not miss out on an entire academic year, internet accessibility and penetration, coupled with the availability of devices such as smartphones and laptops, have acted as impediments for many.

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However, the indomitable spirit of a Rajasthani boy, Harish, has proved once again that when there is a will, there is a way. According to a Dainik Bhaskar report, the eagerness to learn has made the student of Jawahar Navodaya Vidhyalay, which is located in a small village called Darura in Rajasthan’s Barmer district, climb a mountain daily.

Harish’s father Veeramdev says: “For the past month and a half, Harish has been climbing the mountain at 8 am to attend classes. He stays there and returns home around 2 pm after the classes end.”

A similar case had surfaced earlier, where a student from Dhanpura had said he had to climb trees and roofs to get an internet connection and attend online classes.

As such, recent government data has revealed that only 15 percent of students in rural India have access to digital media necessary to attend online classes.

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