A girl was forced to open her coin bank so she can buy a phone for online learning, something that broke so many people’s hearts in this time of COVID-19 pandemic.
Savings to Buy a Phone
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of places shifted to online learning for the students. But this has been met by mixed reactions, with low-income parents expressing worry that they can’t sustain this kid of education because they have no money to buy the gadgets needed for school and pay for the monthly internet access charges.
Photo credit: Saowalak Chantakanok / Facebook
But kids would want to be in school so they can learn – and parents don’t want their kids to be left behind. So, even as they struggled to have enough money for food, many had to shell out what little money they had left to buy a phone or other gadgets needed for online learning!
Recently, Saowalak Chantakanok shared the heartbreaking story of a poor girl who went to the cellphone shop she works in to buy a phone.
Chantakanok, who works for a Huawei shop in Thailand, shared that she took pity on the girl who went to their shop with her grandfather. The grandpa asked whether the store accepts loose change as he initially thought only those with credit card can buy a phone.
When Chantakanok told him that they could buy the phone with loose change, she was surprised that they paid with small bills and a lot of coins. It turned out that the kid had to open her coin bank so she can buy a phone!
Chantakanok joked that the kid is getting ready to play online games but was surprised by the child’s reply.
“No, I need it so I can join my friends online in e-learning,” the girl told Chantakanok.
While she admired the kid, she also expressed concern over the situation.
“I want to know who approved about studying through online… See what you present, but do you know that the struggle has happened for those who have low capital… Look at this kid has to hakka a jar to want to study like Friends… I asked the little girl if she bought it to play games. ‘No, I will take it to online class with my friends,’” Chantakanok wrote.
Struggles of Online Learning
While online learning sounds great, many also face problems with this type of education. Those who self-study could find difficulties in understanding the lessons on their own while parents might not be capable of teaching their children the lessons.
Moreover, there is also a problem in having the necessary gadgets like laptops and printers as well as internet connection to sustain online learning.