Teachers and students in the Valley complain that it takes hours for them to upload and download files due to the poor internet speeds. 

Srinagar, New Delhi: Schools and colleges, among the worst affected by the lockdown to contain Covid-19, are now increasingly resorting to online classes to salvage their academic sessions. But that has proved a problem for educational institutions in Kashmir where an internet blackout was only recently lifted.

In the first week of March, the Jammu and Kashmir government lifted the seven-month long ban on the internet but restricted the speed to 2G, creating hurdles for those who might want to attend online classes. The speed restriction has been extended through an order issued on 27 April, crushing the hopes of students and their parents that online classes could be possible in the Union Territory.

Many parents, students and teachers that ThePrint spoke to complained that it takes hours for them to upload files for online lectures and that Zoom calls and video calls are next to impossible. This is in stark contrast to other parts of the country where schools and colleges have been aided by platforms such as Google Classes, Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Team to conduct classes.

“How is it possible to hold online classes at 2G speeds. The speeds are extremely low and most of the time either the connection snaps or works at such slow speed that it is impossible for students to understand what is going on in the classes,” said Khursheed Ahmed, whose sons study in a private school in Srinagar.