The Education Department in Henan province issued a document on Monday suggesting students of poor families be provided with the necessary hardware and exemption from or reduction in internet data use charges to help them attend classes online during the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The document was released after reports on social media said a middle school girl in Dengzhou, a county-level city in Henan, attempted suicide on failing to attend classes online as the three-children family had just one smartphone.

Fortunately, the girl was sent to hospital in time and is out of danger now, but the incident is reason enough to pay attention to the digital divide in society and emphasizes the need for targeted poverty alleviation measures so that impoverished students are not denied their right to education during the epidemic.

Thanks to rapid penetration of the internet and mobile technology, studies have not completely stopped even though schools across the country have suspended classes to reduce infection risk following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

This is because a majority of schools have launched online classes.

But to attend such classes, students require a device that can access the internet, such as a personal computer or smartphone, not something someone from an impoverished family can easily afford.

The epidemic has only served to underline the digital divide in China. Because of economic reasons, most of those living in rural areas face difficulties in accessing online information.

If this issue is not dealt with, more people from impoverished families will fall into the so-called digital divide.

Enabling impoverished students to take online classes should be part of moves to alleviate poverty and guarantee people their right to education. Local authorities should make a note of this while implementing poverty-alleviation plans to benefit students as well as society.