In tribal Gadchiroli, the satellite link connecting hundreds of students to the world of virtual learning has snapped. Even as ISRO plans to set up a statewide virtual hub at the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University in Nashik, its tribal students have stared at blank screens across numerous virtual centres for nearly a year now.

“Last year, we ran BA and BCom programmes through the satellite uplink for 15 days,” says Prof B P Barde, in-charge of the Aheri centre in Gadchiroli. “Since then there has been no progress. At present we have not enrolled any student for the MPSC programme. And even the 250 odd students pursuing various courses with us are not benefiting from the virtual classes in other parts of the state.”

Besides Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Gondiya and parts of Kolhapur are also not receiving a clear signal from EDUSAT.

“The programme has simply shut down,” says Bhupesh Gulhane, manning YCMOU’s Nagpur regional centre.

In the Konkan region, frequent rainfall has also affected the quality of the satellite programming. There are complaints of frequent loss in connection and of visuals freezing for up to 10 minutes during live telecasts.

The biggest losers since the satellite link snapped are postgraduate sociology students and civil service aspirants, who have been completely tuned out of the ongoing Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) coaching being provided through virtual classrooms.

While 900 students have taken admission to these courses this session, centres that have lost their signal have not enrolled any student in the MPSC and MA (Sociology) programmes. Some have referred their applicants to other centres.

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