Learning disabilities

Govt must reopen primary schools immediately

Among the many deleterious effects of one and a half years of the Covid19 pandemic is the toll it has taken on education in general. With most institutions closed, students of all ages and backgrounds have suffered. But where the rich and middle class have been able to partially bridge the gap via online classes, poor students, whether in rural or urban India, have been left behind for lack of access to similar privileges. On September 8, World Literacy Day, a study reported that 48 per cent of school-going children in rural areas and 42 per cent in urban areas are unable to read more than a few words. Fully 75 per cent of parents felt their children’s reading ability has declined massively. The study, titled “School Children’s Online and Offline Learning,” or SCHOOL, covered nearly 1,400 school-children in poor households enrolled in classes one through eight across 15 states and Union Territories. It was conducted by economists Reetika Khera and Jean Dreze, and researcher Vipul Paikra. The study highlighted the vast digital divide that spans income and rural-urban settings. Ironically, at a time when the ed-tech business is spawning unicorns and making billionaires out of start-up entrepreneurs in this space, the study revealed that only 8 per cent of children study online in rural areas and 24 per cent in urban areas. In rural India, just 28 per cent of students are studying regularly and 37 per cent aren’t studying at all. The figures were slightly better but scarcely encouraging for urban underprivileged households, with about 19 per cent not studying at all and 47 per cent studying regularly. Strikingly, smartphone ownership did not guarantee access to learning in these households, either because they are used by working adults, or due to poor connectivity or lack of money for data networks.

Among the many points of concern is the surge in the provision of private education either in the form of tuitions or a switch from government to private schools. This accentuates the danger of the government, already strapped for resources, ceding education to the private sector as it has done in health. This would be a pity, given the rising enrolments and falling dropout rates at primary school level, thanks to programmes such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Not surprisingly, 90 per cent of parents think schools should reopen. Indeed, the continued closure of primary schools is inexplicable when leading epidemiologists, including those in the government system, have debunked the notion of children being especially vulnerable in the third wave of the infection. In the long run, these lost months of education on India’s poor are doubly harmful. Each year, annual ASER studies reporting on the state of basic education in India highlight the sub-optimal quality of education at primary and secondary levels. The lack of physical schooling, especially for those in their starting years, is likely to enhance these poor outcomes. Weakening foundational education is the last thing India can afford at this stage in its development. So the immediate priority is clear: The Centre and state governments must heed the critical message from the SCHOOL study and get young children back to school as soon as possible.