EFFECTS OF INTERNET SHUTDOWN AMONG STUDENTS OF DHANAMANJURI UNIVERSITY

Dr. Naorem Jibolata Devi ¹, Gaikaongam Meiringmei ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Dhanamanjuri University, Imphal, India

² Scholar, PG Student, Department of Education, Dhanamanjuri University, Imphal, India

1. INTRODUCTION

During 2019 in J & K, 55 shutdowns of internet are recorded, which is less than that of 68 years in 2018 (271 quantity of internet shutdowns recorded in nation Vaidya (2020). You are never asked to provide Internet knowledge from the modern digital age. The highest amount of internet shutdowns in the world were in J&K a UT recently declared in India. The total shutdown duration during 2012–2017 in India is still 16,315 hours (680 days), with approximately $3.04 million economic loss Rydzak (2019)

Internet shutdowns are violence in and of themselves, robbing people of their freedoms of appearance, connotation, meeting and confidentiality. Also, the cases of Myanmar and Belarus exemplifies that how such digital authoritarianism policies work, damage the human rights of citizens and affect international Ryng et al.  (2023).

It has become a big issue that Internet shutdown in India as well as it will not be wrong to say that India is attractive the capital of the world for Internet Shutdown. In an era in which India is harnessing the advantages of mainstream technologies like the Internet to endorse and extend the Digital India campaign, the increasing number of closures underscores the issues besetting the digital landscape, which present a barrier to completing India's digital objectives Kathuria (2018).

They also have catastrophic consequences with respect to the economy, healthcare, education, and civil society. Access now recorded 50 shutdowns in 21 countries in the first five months of 2021 alone. Freedom of assembly, access to information, and opinion and speech have all been impacted by these disturbances.  Shutdowns have progressively diverted people from potentially life-saving information during situations like armed conflict or the recent COVID-19 pandemic.  Additionally, the worldwide economy lost billions due to shutdowns.  Estimates put the economic loss in Myanmar, the nation with the longest and worst shutdowns, at 2.1 billion USD, or more than 2.5 percent of GDP. If anything, it is a testament to how quickly, in less than a third of a decade, Myanmar’s shutdowns have eviscerated the country in percentage terms — approximately half of what the Great Recession did to the US economy. Often, sinister motives are suspected behind all these (to cover up voter fraud, muzzling dissent, controlling media or correspondingly "weeding out" minority groups Woodhams and Migliano (2021).

2. Review of related study

In his research titled "Implications of Internet Bans on Online Education: Addressing Constitutional Conflicts and Educational Rights," Tripathi (2023) identified a number of issues.  Considering the legitimacy of internet outages in India and the access to education under Article 21(A), it becomes clear how difficult it will be to overcome this problem when the simplest way to anticipate justice is to recruit more judges and hire better secretaries.

March 2017, "Investigation of Internet Shutdown Statistics in India"—a research titled "Plundering the internet."  In their article "Impact of the internet shutdown in Ranchi, Jharkhand: A survey," Upadhyay et al. (2022) make reference to the situation.  Simplified, the study found that 21% of app users are feeling lonely due to the shutdown, while 55% say they aren't lonely at all. That's good news, because a lot of people still don't rely on the Internet to stay in touch with their loved ones.  The most important thing that came out of this study was that over half of the participants who took part in it checked their phones or other devices at least 100 times during the 33-hour internet outage, seemingly restlessly refreshing the connection.

According to a study by Qadir and Dar (2021) titled "How Internet Shutdowns Affects the Entrepreneurs in Jammu and Kashmir," the failure of internet-dependent businesses in Jammu and Kashmir over the past few years has had a significant impact on industries like information technology and tourism.

"Internet Shutdown: A Digital Discrimination for Ict-Based Education: A Multi vocal Review of Conflicted Areas" Amin (2020)was the subject of the issue analysis.  Internet outages disproportionately affect areas already rife with violence, and these areas often lack the resources to invest in viable alternatives.  Breaks shouldn't hinder students' capacity to study, and the availability of infrastructure should match the demands of an area.  Fixed line connection should be prioritized in areas where mobile networks are often down.  If students are losing out on education because of the Internet, maybe stronger physical infrastructure will make up the difference.  Also, most of these areas would benefit from better network connection in general, as is usually the case.

Mark et al. (2021) "Internet Connection and Learning Device Availability of College Students: Basis for Institutionalizing Flexible Learning in the New Normal" pertains to the issue at hand.  A more robust internet connection should be made available to pupils in remote regions via the use of pocket Wi-Fi.  Education by providing supplementary learning devices to students who qualify with the help of the LGUS and who are in dire need.  This involves setting up Wi-Fi hotspots in public areas where students may use them for free, such as parks, plazas, barangay halls, and outposts of the Barangay Police.

According to a study by Tarisayi and Munyaradzi (2020), "A teacher perspective on the impact of internet shutdown on the teaching and learning in high school in Zimbabwe," teachers' ability to communicate and do research was greatly affected by the shutdown at the schools they studied.  Yet, general education and teachers in particular were impacted by the internet shutdown in Zimbabwe, which was aimed at suppressing civil disobedience and dissent.  "The government's decision to cut off access to the internet caught some Zimbabwean educators unawares."

Comparative research titled "Comparative Study of Internet Usage Among University Students: A Study of the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh" was carried out by Hossain and Rahman (2017).  Based on the findings, it is clear that students at Dhaka University have fully embraced the internet as a means to get essential material for their academic and research projects.  The study's findings highlight the importance of students' internet use on their academic achievement, suggesting that students across all disciplines should make more use of it.

3. Significance of the study

Although many studies have been conducted abroad in this area, few studies have been conducted in Manipur. We all know internet have great importance in modern society. Every work or activity needs internet nowadays. Therefore, we must discover a way to partially address this issue. This topic of research is one of the newly emerging topics of study and this research will provide useful recommendations to overcome internet shutdown and its other associated problems.

3.1. Statement of the problem

The problem of the research can be stated as “EFFECTS OF INTERNET SHUTDOWN AMONG STUDENTS OF DHANAMANJURI UNIVERSITY”.

3.2. Operational definition of the term used

1)    Internet shutdown: It is a technical measure intended to restrict access to information or resources.

2)    University: A university is a large educational and research organization that grants degrees in a variety of fields.

3)    Manipur: one of the northeast states of India.

4)    Effect: A change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.

3.3. Objectives of the study

1)     To find out student’s attitude toward internet shutdown and its effect on examination score.

2)     To find out student’s attitude towards the positive and negative impacts of internet shutdown.

3)     To find out the level of internet dependence among students for educational purpose.

4)     To find out problems faced during internet shutdown period and its suggestive measures to solve this problem.

3.4. Delimitations of the study

The current investigation will be delimited to PG students only.

1)     The study will be delimited to Post graduate students of Dhanamanjuri university only.

2)     The study will be delimited to History, geography and education department of Dhanamanjuri university.

3)     The study will be delimited to DM university only.

4. Review of related study

Concerning the "Implications of Internet Bans on Online Education: Addressing the Conflict of Constitution and Educational right," Tripathi (2023) provided a definition of the research.  According to Article 21(A), it is obvious that solving this problem would be logistically difficult regardless of the legality of internet outages in India.

Upadhyay (2022) performed research named "Impact of the internet shutdown in ranchi, Jharkhand," yet there was an issue with their study.  The most noteworthy finding of the study was that 21% of people were isolated because of the shutdown, while 55% claimed that it had no effect on them. This is a great sign of optimism, because most people rely on the Internet to communicate and keep in touch with loved ones.  The most crucial conclusion drawn from this poll was that, during the 33-hour Internet Shutdown, more than 61% of respondents checked their phone or other connected device at least 100 times in a state of eager anticipation for the restoration of their Internet connection.

Research was conducted about the issue of "How Internet Shutdowns Affects the Entrepreneurs in Jammu and Kashmir" Qadir and Dar (2021).  The shutdown of the internet in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years has had a disproportionate impact on entrepreneurs involved in information technology (IT) and tour and travel (TT), since their businesses rely heavily on the internet.

Amin (2020) performed research with the working title "Illicit as Internet Shutdown: A Multivocal Review of Conflicted Areas" to examine the effects of digital discrimination on ICT-based education.  The most important thing to remember from these studies is that areas experiencing war tend to have fewer financial resources, thus they are less able to afford alternatives like satellite Internet or to temporarily relax the restriction, therefore the consequences of Internet shutdowns are felt more acutely there.

So that the closure does not hinder pupils' capacity to learn, the region's infrastructure should be coordinated.  Fixed line investments might be a viable alternative in areas where mobile networks are often down.  The loss of Internet education may be compensated for by improving other physical infrastructure.  In addition, most of these places would benefit greatly from greater general network connection, as is the case in many parts of the globe.

This is according to the findings of the study "Internet Connection and Learning Device Availability of College Students: Basis for Institutionalizing Flexible Learning in the New Normal" Mark et al. (2021).  This exploration highlights the need of providing students, particularly those in remote places, with pocket Wi-Fi that has an adequate data connection.  Distributing additional educational devices to exceptionally disadvantaged and eligible students with the support of LGUs.  Wi-Fi hotspots will be set up in specific locations in the community, such as plazas, barangay halls, parks, and outposts of the Barangay Police. These hotspots will be available to students in the community for free.

The research and communication efforts of teachers at the colleges that were part of the study by Tarisayi and Munyaradzi (2020), "A teacher perspective on the impact of internet shutdown on the teaching and learning in high school in Zimbabwe," were significantly impeded during the time that the internet was down.  Although the goal of Zimbabwe's internet blackout was to quell protests and civil disturbance, the measure had unintended consequences for both students and educators.  So, it's safe to say that the internet shutdown put the chosen Zimbabwean school instructors in the crosshairs.

In their 2017 study titled "Comparative Study of Internet Usage Among University Students: A Study of the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh," Hossain and Rahman investigated this topic.  Dhaka University students across all majors acknowledged the internet as a valuable resource for scholarly study and academic writing.  Students across all majors would benefit from increasing their internet use, according to this research, as it significantly boosts academic performance.

5. Sample/ participants

As we know the intake capacity seats, and number of students admitted in the academic session 2022-2023 in 4th semester. 34,30,26 students respectively from Education, Geography, History Department are selected as sample of the present study. So, the sample of the present study are 90 students from 4th semester. The participants of this study are students only.

6. Tools used

One Tools are used for the four objectives of the study.

Tool-1 (Attitude scale): Attitude scale for students for studying the attitude of students towards the effects of internet shutdown.

7. Procedure for collection of data

Present studies are concerned with four objectives. Out of these four objectives the nature of last objectives is different from the nature of all three objectives. For achieving the objectives (from 1st objectives to 3rd objective), the researcher himself proceeds to the practical field and from there, he collected the data personally by using these attitude scale and for achieving the 4th objectives, the researcher prepared an open-ended questionnaire and toke response from students.

8. Procedure for analysis of data

The researcher used statistical technique like percentage for analyzing the data of the present study. The researcher also used STATA for analysis of   data relating to the present study.

8.1. Students attitude towards internet shutdown and its effects on examination score

Table 1

Table 1 explains the student’s attitude towards internet shutdown and its effects on examination score. The details of the analysis of the data relating to the table are given below.

In education department students, 22 (64.71%) students were not affected in their examination because of internet shutdown while the students, 4 (11.76%) students were affected in their examination score because of internet shutdown and the remaining 8 (23.53) students were indecisive on the effects of examination because of internet shutdown.

In geography department students, 19 (63.33%) students were not affected in their examination because of internet shutdown while 11 (36.67%) students were affected in their examination score because of internet shutdown.

In history department, 18 (69.23) students were not affected in their examination score because of internet shutdown while 7 (26.92%) students were affected in their examination score and the remaining 1 (3.85%) students were indecisive on the effects of examination because of internet shutdown.

Among all the three department, history department were the most not effected in examination score with 69% while 64% for education department, and 63% for geography department. Therefore, it is summarized that student’s examination score were not much effected because of internet shutdown.

8.2. Students attitude towards the positive and negative impacts of internet shutdown

Table 2

Table 2 explains the student’s attitude towards the positive and negative impacts on internet shutdown. The details of the analysis of the data are given below.

In education department, 26 (76.47%) students have been negatively impacted because of internet shutdown while 6 students (17.65%) have been positively impacted of internet shutdown and the remaining 2 students (5.88%) has been indecisive of the positive and negative impacts of internet shutdown.

In Geography department, 17 (56.67%) students have been negatively impacted because of internet shutdown while 12 students (40%) have been positively impacted of internet shutdown and the remaining 1 student (3.33%) has been indecisive of the positive and negative impacts of internet shutdown.

In History department, 17(65.38%) students have been negatively impacted while 9 students (34.62%) have been positively impacted of internet shutdown. Therefore, it is summarized that internet shutdown has been negatively impacted more on students than the positive impacts.

8.3. The level of internet dependence among students for educational purpose

Table 3

Table 3 displays the percentage of pupils whose parents work for the government or commercial sector and how dependent they are on the internet for schoolwork.  Below you will find the specifics of the data analysis that pertains to table 4.3.

 Four students (18.18%) did not rely on the internet for educational purposes, and four more (18.18%) were unsure as to whether they relied on the internet for educational purposes. One hundred and fourteen kids (63.64%) had parents working for the government.

 Out of the 52 pupils whose parents work in private service, 22 (or 76.47% of the total) rely on the internet for schoolwork, 9 (13.24% of the total) do not, and 7 (10.29%) are unsure.  Thus, it may be concluded that students rely more on the internet for educational purposes, and that students whose parents work for private companies rely more on the internet than students whose parents work for public companies.

8.4. problems faced during internet shutdown period and its suggestive measures to solve this problem

Table 4

Table 4 explains some problems faced during internet shutdown period and its suggestive measures to solve the problem of internet shutdown.

The students of the Dhanamanjuri university responded that internet shutdown arises problems with communication, education, business operations, healthcare access, social connection, information availability, functioning of various online services and difficulty in collecting study materials.

The students of the Dhanamanjuri university also suggested some measures to solve the problems of internet shutdown i.e. The government should provide internet in all educational and administration institution, policy reform, alternate channels for communication, offline access for critical information and educational resources, providing limited internet in place of complete shutdown, prevent people from spreading fake news and hatred.

9. Conclusions

The impact of the internet outage on Dhanamanjuri University students was the subject of this research.  Following this, you will get the findings from the database/results research.

Students in all three academic programs utilized and relied on the internet for research and classwork, but the research found that students' test scores were unaffected by the internet outage.

The study indicated that internet shutdown has been negatively impacted to all the students of the three department of the university than the positive impacts of the internet shutdown.

The study revealed that students of the three-department used internet for educational purposes and the level of internet dependence were more than the non-dependence. The students of private service parents depended more that the government service parents on internet for educational purposes.

The study also revealed that internet shutdown arises problems with communication, education, business operations, healthcare access, social connection, information availability, functioning of various online services and difficulty in collecting study materials and also suggested some measures to solve the problems of internet shutdown

i.e. The government should provide internet in all educational and administration institution, policy reform, alternate channels for communication, offline access for critical information and educational resources, providing limited internet in place of complete shutdown, prevent people from spreading fake news and hatred.

10. Implications of the study

Below are some of the major consequences of this research.

1)     The impacts and harms caused by the internet shutdown, especially on students, may be better understood with the aid of this research.

2)     This analysis would be crucial in influencing current policies to make the required changes and inventing new rules to avert future internet shutdowns.

3)     This study would help to understand the importance of internet in our life specially to the students.

11. Suggestions for further research

The current study offers some recommendations for further research in the field.  Following this, we have included some of the most important recommendations for future studies that build on this one.

1)     Present study was conducted particularly to education, geography, and history department. But studies maybe conducted in all the department of the Dhanamanjuri university

2)     Present study was conducted to Dhanamanjuri university. But this kind of study may be extended to other university in the state.

3)     Studies may be undertaken to study the effects of internet shutdown in normal people besides students.

4)     This kind of study / such type of study maybe conducted among teacher, administrators, policy makers, parents and members of the society

5)     Such type of study may be extended to primary, elementary, high and higher secondary stage and even graduate level students.

6)     Such type of study can be done in other district also.

7)     Comparative study can also be done in this area.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

None. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

None.

REFERENCES

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Kathuria, A. (2018). A Civil Society Organization Has Developed the Definition Resulting from Their #KeepitonCampaign. Access Now. Retrieved from https://www.accessnow.org/keepiton  

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