MAKE TECH PART OF RTE: EXPERTS
MUMBAI: More than a year after schools in the state and the country moved online, there is a pressing demand from educationists and experts to cater to the technological gap in learning, with a large number of students still struggling to get access to smartphones, laptops and computers and thus remaining out of the education system.
A 16-page report of the India Task Force under the Lancet Covid-19 Commission titled Reopening Schools after Covid-19 closures has recommended making Right to Technology a fundamental part of the Right to Education (RTE). One of the key recommendations of the report consists of providing digital access to students. “Bridge the divide on priority basis through a combination of actions including but not restricted to improving access to internet connectivity and devices to poorest children,” states the report.
As per a survey conducted by the state education department in February 2021, nearly 16% students from the state do not have access to any medium of communication (radio, TV or mobile phone) for online education. As per the data, over 26% students in the state do not have access to even a simple mobile phone.
Palghar had the highest number of students without access to any medium – 37.48% followed by Gadchiroli (36.23%) and Nandurbar (29.87%). Even in Mumbai, which has the highest penetration of Whatsapp (70.33%), 3.58% students do not have access to a mobile, television or radio.
“The governments have to creatively think of leveraging education budgets for next three-five years. Financial planning, student curriculum, teacher support, and parent engagement need to evolve. The technology gap has to be bridged,” said Madhukar Banuri, chief executive officer and co-founder of Leadership for Equity, a Pune-based NGO.
Ghanshyam Sonar, convenor of the All India Right to Education Forum said that students need to be provided devices along with internet connectivity on a priority basis in the new academic year that is set to begin for most state schools in June.
“A realistic assessment on the requirements is already expected to be in. The government should now work on bridging the gap between the privileged and the underprivileged students because they have got enough time to do so for the last one year,” he added.