Kashmir students studying outside stare at uncertain future as slow internet hampers online exam

SRINAGAR: Hundreds of students studying in the colleges outside Jammu and Kashmir are at the verge of losing precious academic year as they are unable to appear in online exams because of the slow 2G internet.

Most of the students studying outside the UT have returned home after the lockdown. However, different universities have started holding semester exams online. But due to the slow internet in the valley,  students are facing problems in appearing for exams.

“I returned home in March.  Since then I have never been able to attend class properly. Now when the exams have started, we are not able to submit our papers on time. Our teachers have no idea about 2G,” said Anzar, a B.Tech student at BIMS

Students have been appealing to teachers to realize their problem and give some concession. “I don’t know how I am supposed to appear in my practical exam where I may have to share screen. It takes a lot of time and effort to convince our teachers to cooperate with us,” he added.

Students are worried about their grades because they miss some questions due to buffering. “It will definitely affect our future. We may not get good grades. It’s hard for us to match the speed of our counterparts in other states,” said Huda and Fallah, students of B.Sc Radiology at one of the colleges in Noida. 

Students have urged the government to restore high-speed internet or create some facility so that they could appear for exams without any hitch. “I request the government to restore high-speed internet until our exams are over. Our future is at stake,” said Aflaq Yousuf,   B. Tech student at BIMS

Divisional commissioner Pandurang K Pole told The Kashmir Monitor that he understands the difficulty being faced by the students.

“Normally annual exams in the rest of the country are held in Feb – March. As per directions of the Hon’ble Court, a high-level committee is empowered to decide. Currently, two districts are having 4G. The committee is to take the call,” he said.