Educational disaster looms if no solutions are quickly found
The Covid-19 pandemic has been with us since almost the beginning of the year. And it is likely to continue till at least the end of this year, and perhaps beyond. It has had the most profound effect on the lives of virtually every person on the planet. One can only think of the two World Wars of the 20th century that have had a comparable impact. Most of us have been confined to our homes, having to adjust our existence as best as we can. Tens of millions of jobs have been lost and the economy of every country has suffered in varying degrees. The hospitality, travel, tourism, entertainment and sports sectors have been the most calamitously hit. In India, the plight of millions of migrants, forced to get back to their homes one way or the other, has perhaps been the most pitiable sight of all.
However, not enough attention has been paid to school and college-going children, who are the foundation of our future. From March, when an official lockdown started, schools and colleges all across the country have been closed. And the closure will remain in effect till at least the end of this month, perhaps even longer. In most other countries, the lockdown was announced earlier than March, but has now been lifted for many educational institutions, with restrictions, of course, like the compulsory wearing of masks, social distancing and sanitising of classrooms. In the UK, for instance, schools have reopened, despite continuing coronavirus infections. It has taken into account the risks involved, arguing that there is no real substitute yet for providing children with physical classrooms and face-to-face interaction with their teachers, even though the number of children in the classroom will be restricted. India has not taken that step yet but may have to do so in the near future. Earlier, a staggering 1.3 billion of the world’s children — the entire population of India — were out of school in 186 countries for at least six months. Hence, this has been a global challenge, for which global solutions need to be found urgently. If not, we face the prospect of a generation of educationally-stunted children who will find it difficult to cope as adults.
Here, I intend to only deal with the challenge faced by our country. Being a member of the Delhi Public School Society, which either directly runs or has franchised out over 200 private schools all over India, I have been exposed to the problems that schools are now grappling with, consequent to the pandemic. With the sudden physical closure of schools, online teaching has become absolutely essential for 240 million children and nine million teachers. The wide-ranging implications of this are slowly dawning on us — children, parents and teachers.
Four years ago, there were only 1.6 million Indian users for the online education market. By next year, that number is expected to skyrocket to 10 million, giving an indication of the phenomenal growth and importance of online learning. Enormous adjustments are going to be needed for teachers and their students alike. Eye-to-eye contact between teacher and students in a physical classroom, even with 30-40 students, is essential to gauge how much, or how little, attention the student is paying. Teachers also gain the respect of students with their physical presence before them. This is clearly not possible with online teaching and studying. Hence, teachers need to develop different skills, while students need to get used to being taught via a smartphone or computer.
However, even before coming to that, let’s look at the digital infrastructure at hand. And there the situation is truly bleak. Yes, we have an estimated 450 million Internet users, the second largest of any nation except China, but the proportion between urban and rural users is badly skewed: 40 per cent of those living in cities and towns, just 15 per cent in villages (where over 50 per cent of Indians reside and work). In fact, 55,000 villages have no mobile network coverage at all. In other words, only a minuscule percentage of students in the countryside have access to online teaching. That is a tragic statistic, especially now.
But the reality on the ground is even worse. Internet coverage is not the only requirement for online teaching and studying. The students, or parents, must have one of three digital devices: a smartphone, tablet or computer. Most Indian families have ordinary, inexpensive cell phones, and a non-smart TV set. A revealing survey by the Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training, along with UNICEF, shows that two-thirds of households in the state don’t have access to smartphones, and that less than 1 per cent have desktop computers or laptops. So, no online teaching is possible for them. The position in other states could not be any better. In sum, only a small percentage of our population has the basic infrastructure for online teaching and studying. And, needless to say, the government-run “free” schools are even worse off in this respect than private fee-paying ones.
The new National Education Policy that has just been unveiled says that the outlay on education, which is only a little over 2 per cent of GDP, should be increased to at least 6 per cent. Such laudable intentions have been announced before, but have never been fulfilled. In May, the Prime Minister had outlined a fairly large “stimulus package” to revive the economy in the wake of the pandemic. Another similar “package” is urgently needed to provide smartphones and tablets to students whose parents cannot afford them. Otherwise, an educational disaster looms ahead.
