Aimed at creating an education system that
contributes directly to transforming the country by providing high-quality
education to all, some of the important takeaways of New Education Policy, cleared
by the Union Cabinet on this July 29, with respect to schooling, looks
impressive.
The intent to introduce a “5+3+3+4” structure
of school education, where children in 3-8 year age group will fall in the
foundation stage; 8-11 – preparatory; 11-14 – middle and 14-18 – secondary has
found support from several quarters as a progressive and scientific approach to
education.
Notably, the plan to teach students until
Class 5 in their mother tongue or regional language has been met with mixed
reactions.
The idea to extend the free-of-charge mid-day
meal programme (MDM), to pre-school children can improve their nutritional
status from their early years. Considered the largest school feeding programme
in the world, MDM reportedly covers an estimated 12 crore primary and upper
primary school children in the age group of 6-14 years across 12 lakh schools
in India. Last year, the allocation by the central government was a whopping Rs
12,054 crore. This year the Centre has increased the annual allocation for mid-day
meal scheme by Rs 800 crore. In wake of COVID-19, MDM has been provided even
during summer vacations this year aimed at benefiting about 11.5 crore children
studying in classes 1 to 8 in 11.34 lakh schools across the country.
For a moment, let’s ponder over the Policy
Brief: “Education during COVID-19 and beyond”, released by the United Nations
Secretary General on 4 August this year.
Importantly, by highlighting how the closure
of schools and other learning spaces have adversely impacted 94% of the world’s
student population (up to 99% in low and lower-middle income countries), the
writing on the wall is clear.
That the global pandemic has indeed created
the largest disruption of education systems in history, affecting nearly 1.6
billion learners in more than 190 countries across all continents and India is
no exception.
According to the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation, nearly 321 million Indian children have
been at home since March-end and there is no clarity on when the schools would
reopen. Worldwide, tertiary education is likely to experience the highest
dropout rate and a projected 3.5 per cent decline in enrolment, resulting in
7.9 million fewer students. Pre-primary education is the second worst affected
level with a projected 2.8 per cent decline in enrolment, i.e. 5 million fewer
children attending. According to these projections, 0.27 per cent of primary
and 1.48 per cent of secondary education students, corresponding to 5.2 million
girls and 5.7 million boys at both levels, risk dropping out of school. School
closures do not only undermine education. They also hamper the provision of
essential services to children and communities, including access to a balanced
diet and parents’ ability to go to work. They also increase risks of violence
against women and girls.
According to the Brief, these decisions carry
enormous social and economic implications and will have lasting effects on
educators, on children and youth, on their parents – especially women – and
indeed on societies as a whole.
The largest share of learners at risk, some
5.9 million of them live in South and West Asia. Another 5.3 million students
at risk are in sub-Saharan Africa.
With both regions at the receiving end of
severe educational challenges pre-COVID-19, their situation could worsen
considerably considering the precedent during the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in
Sierra Leone. There schools were closed for nine months to stop the spread of
infection. But during this period, children who were out of school and
vulnerable to exploitation suffered the most. Teenage pregnancies shot up by
over 60 per cent and 11,000 girls who were previously in school got pregnant.
With researchers in Canada estimating that the
socio-economic skills gap could increase by more than 30 per cent due to the
pandemic, the learning loss, in the short and long term, is expected to be
great.
Notably, the UN, has pinpointed that in
low-income countries in particular, with the onset of the pandemic, many
parents stopped paying fees, scores of teachers lost their livelihoods, or how
when teachers were immediately tasked with implementing distance learning
modalities, often without sufficient guidance, training, or resources – the
confusion it created amongst parents and children. In India too there have been
complaints of some schools allegedly hiking fees or not permitting children to
join online classes for default in fee payment.
So, is e-learning not a sustainable solution
to the COVID19 education crisis in India?
If news reports are to be believed, the
smartphone does link the children to their teachers and many seem to enjoy
e-learning like noting down daily assignments, completing them and sending it
back to their teachers. There are others who complain that online learning, including
video links and WhatsApp assignments, are not helpful for poor families, hoping
that the schools would reopen soon.
There have been some negative consequences of
e-learning as well. Sample this - despite incurring huge losses in business due
to COVID-19 lockdown, the father of a 12-year-old girl got her a smart phone
somehow collecting Rs 10,000. Nonetheless, the girl believed to be quite
frustrated with online classes and homework, committed suicide by hanging when
her mother asked her to complete the homework.
In another tragic incident, a 15-year-old
class 10 student allegedly committed suicide after he failed to attend online
classes and examinations in the absence of a smartphone.
An educationally gifted 15-year-old class 10
student committed suicide because she was unable to attend online classes. She
was so depressed with the feeling that her academic performance would be
greatly affected even if she missed a single class as the TV at her home was
non-functional and she couldn’t possess a smartphone since her father, a daily
labourer, hadn’t earned anything during lockdown.
Suffice to say that online classes does seem
to pose significant challenges for students with limited access to smartphones,
computers and reliable internet connections. To overcome the dilemma faced by
many students from low-income families who cannot afford smartphones, it is all
the more necessary that vulnerable families receive practical support in such
situations.
In so far as availability of computers and
internet connections, a peek into the NSS 75th round (July 2017- June 2018)
survey on Household Social Consumption would show that households possessing a
computer was a meagre 4.4 per cent in rural India compared to 23.4 per cent in
urban areas. Similarly, only 14.9 per cent households in rural and 42 per cent
in urban areas had an internet connection.
Forget online learning. Even in face-to-face
formal learning, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2019)
released this January, only 16 per cent of children in Class 1 in 26 surveyed
rural districts can read text at the prescribed level, while almost 40 per cent
cannot even recognise letters. Further, only 41 per cent of these children
could recognise two digit numbers.
In short, a large number of factors determine
the quality of education received at this stage that includes the child’s home
background, especially the mother’s education level. The learning is
clear: it pays to focus on play-based activities which build memory, reasoning
etc., than an early focus on content knowledge.
The country may boast of having nearly 4 lakh
unaided private schools with more than 7.9 crore students enrolled. Despite a
surge in school enrolments/infrastructure development in the primary and
secondary segments, have not the learning outcomes have kept pace?
Well, the adverse impact of COVID-19 has been
so drastic that with rents, power, water bills and salaries mounting steadily
one side and fees drying up, many private unaided schools have reportedly shut
down. Once employed, teachers are a troubled lot today. With their salaries
remaining unpaid, or paid partially, some seem to earn a livelihood as manual
labourers or by selling fruits and vegetables, vending tea, while others with
over several years of experience are said to serve as daily wagers to support
their families.
The need to “prevent the learning crisis from
becoming a generational catastrophe needs to be a top priority for world
leaders and the entire education community” is the most important warning that
the UN Policy Brief has tried to convey.
It would be worthwhile for policy makers to
give a thought to its four important recommendations: 1) Suppress transmission
of the virus and plan thoroughly for school reopening. 2) Protect education
budgets and include education in COVID stimulus packages; 3) Strengthen the
resilience of education systems for equitable and sustainable development and
4) Reimagine education and accelerate positive change in teaching and learning.
