IMPACT
OF COVID-19 ON SCHOOL EDUCATION - EDUCATION
News: More than 20,000 schools closed in India during 2020-21; number of teachers declined by 1.95%: Ministry of Education
What's
in the news?
● Recent report of Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) data for the year 2021-22 shows the School Education system in the Covid 19 era.
Key
takeaways:
●
The second wave of Covid-19 hit India’s
school education with over 20,000
schools, just over 1 percent of the total number shutting down and close to
1.89 lakh teachers, almost two percent of their total exiting the workforce.
●
The total number of teachers in 2021-22 was 95.07 lakh, decreasing from 97.87 lakh in 2020-21.
●
The percentage of teachers teaching only
primary (34.4% in 2021-22 from 35.4% in 2020-21) and only upper primary (18.9%
in 2021-22 from 21.5% in 2020-21) has reduced.
●
The decrease in teachers during 2021-22 as
against previous year was 0.9% in government schools, 1.45% in government aided
schools, 2.94% in private schools and 8.3% in other schools.
●
There was an almost two-fold rise in the transfer of students from private to
government schools as compared to the first year of the pandemic.
●
Among schools that shut down, the share of
private schools was 24% and government schools were 48%, with government-aided
schools and “others” making up the rest.
●
Total
number of schools in 2021-22 stood at 14.89 lakh as compared to 15.09 lakh in
2020-21. The decline in total number of schools is mainly due
to closure of schools under private- and other management,"
●
The Unified District Information System
for Education Plus (UDISE+) report on school education in India for 2021-22
also pointed out that only 44.85%
schools had computer facilities while nearly 34% had internet connection.
●
While only 27% schools have special
toilets for children with special needs (CSWN), more than 49% of them have
ramps with handrails.
●
“In 2021-22, enrollment of students in school education from primary to higher
secondary was around 25.57 crore. This is higher by 19.36 lakh as compared to
the enrollment of students in 2020-21,” the report said.
● In UDISE+ 2021-22, additional data on important indicators such as digital library, peer learning, hard spot identification, number of books available in school library, etc., have been collected for the first time to align with the National Education Policy 2020 initiatives.
How
Covid-19 has impacted school education?
1.
Availability of online education:
●
Online education was envisioned as an
alternative means of spreading education, but it too fails, given the Indian
student conditions.
●
The availability
and affordability of this system poses a barrier.
●
While e-education is a privilege for the
students from an upper and middle class, it has proved to be a nuisance for
students from the lower middle class and people living below the poverty line.
2.
Increasing student isolation:
●
Due to the pandemic and lack of physical classroom teaching, a
peculiar feeling of isolation is developing in the minds of students. That’s a
very serious issue. The trauma of the second wave will put a deep imprint on
the student’s mind.
●
Physical
interaction and activities have been entirely absent,
and that may also be contributing to new problems.
3.
Digital addiction:
Committee was set up by
Tamil Nadu under Professor R.Ramanujam
highlighted various challenges:
●
Online education has an addictive effect
on young children. This would require de-addiction from the digital world and
reconnecting to the physical world.
●
Digital
activism and its ideology have deeply penetrated the minds of children.
This would require counseling of children, teachers and even family members.
4.
Higher dropout rates:
●
Parent's
income reduction, poverty issues, and riding unemployment
are the leading factors for the increasing trend of school dropout rates.
●
The rate of dropout is very high among
rural households with 67% children in the rural
households and 55% of children in urban households.
5.
Disruption in mid-day meal services:
●
Disruption in school meal services affecting nutrition of children between
6-17 years age group due to Covid 19.
●
A study by IFPRI shows that as of May 1,
2020, only 15 of the 36 states/UTs had taken steps to adapt to the MDM scheme.
●
A survey by Save the Children reports that
39 percent of households did not receive MDM during lockdown between April and
June.
●
A survey by the Population Council in
Bihar shows that 29 percent received cash in lieu of cooked food or dry ration.
6.
Children lose out on early childhood care and education (ECCE):
●
In India, the ECCE services are largely
provided through the Anganwadi Centres (AWCs)
under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. In 2019, there
were 30 million children (3-6 years) who were beneficiaries of this scheme in
1.37 million operational AWCs (MWCD, 2020).
●
Therefore, it is highly likely that the
disruption of ICDS services due to the lockdown during COVID-19 would have had
huge consequences on the health, nutrition, and learning of these children.
7.
Probability of an increase in gender disparity in education:
●
The school closures due to the COVID-19
pandemic could lead to a million more girls and transgender children dropping
out before they complete their education.
●
This particularly holds true for children
living in poverty, those with a disability or the ones living in rural isolated
places.
●
Economic
hardships caused by the crisis will have spill-over effects as
families consider the nancial and opportunity costs of educating their
daughters.
8.
Decreasing analytical thinking:
●
The other important question is about the
learning outcomes of online education.
●
Google is the prominent and only platform
to all queries, and as a result of that, students are not thinking on their
own.
● Scientific outlook was the key parameter stressed upon since the inception of modern education in India.
GOVERNMENT
INITIATIVES:
1.
Samagra Shiksha:
●
The Government of India launched Samagra
Shiksha, an integrated scheme for school
education, w.e.f 2018-19, as an overarching programme for the school
education sector extending from pre-school
to class XII, which aims to ensure inclusive
and equitable quality education at all levels of school education, across
the country including the rural areas.
2.
Mid-Day-Meal (MDM):
●
Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) is an on-going centrally-sponsored scheme which
provides nutritional supplement to
all school children studying in classes I-VIII of government, government-aided
schools, special training centres including Madrasas and Maktabs.
3.
Padhna Likhna Abhiyan:
●
A centrally
sponsored scheme of adult education namely, “Padhna Likhna Abhiyan (PLA)”
was implemented during 2020-21 with a physical target of imparting functional literacy to 57 lakh adult illiterates in the
age group of 15 and above under basic literacy programme.
4.
Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA):
●
Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan
(RUSA), a centrally sponsored scheme
(CSS) is an overarching scheme, operating in mission mode for funding the state government universities
and colleges to achieve the aims of equity, access and excellence.
●
The funding to states is being made on the
basis of critical appraisal of state higher education plans, which describe
each state’s strategy to address issues of equity, access and excellence in
higher education.
5.
PRAGYATA:
●
The Ministry of Education released guidelines on digital education titled
PRAGYATA.
●
Under the PRAGYATA guidelines, only 30
minutes of screen time per day for interacting with parents is recommended for
kindergarten, nursery and pre-school.
6.
SWAYAM:
●
It provides for an integrated platform for
online courses.
7.
NEAT:
●
It aims to use artificial intelligence to make learning more personalized and
customized as per the requirements of the learner.
8.
PM CARES:
●
The child will be given admission to the
nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar.
●
If the child is admitted to a private
school, the fees as per the RTE norms will be given from PM-CARES.
●
The PM-CARES Fund will also pay for
expenditure on the uniform, textbooks and notebooks.
9.
MANODARPAN:
● For psychosocial support, ‘MANODARPAN’ has been launched. It covers a wide range of activities to provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for mental health and emotional wellbeing during the COVID outbreak and beyond.
WAY
FORWARD:
1.
Increased Investment:
●
The ADB paper suggests that the government
must increase investment in education and skills with a focus on narrowing the
digital divide.
● It is important to keep school-age children in education as much as possible by providing financial support and incentives, while giving additional support for skills training to youth already out of school
2.
Assessment for Impacted Students:
● Government should also help students recover “lost opportunities” by conducting assessments among impacted children.
3.
Identify and Bridge the learning Gaps:
● Effective learning programs should be devised to offer appropriate support such as tutoring or special classes and help them to bridge the learning gap.
4.
Focusing on the Most Disadvantaged Group of Students:
●
Governments need to direct adequate
funding and resources to young populations most affected by closures, such as
those from the poor, rural and socially disadvantaged groups.