Sustaining Education During Covid Crisis

 Nelson Mandela had famously said and I quote, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Significance of learning dates back to the beginning of civilization. Education has, from time immemorial been universally accepted as an important indicator of how prosperous a society would turn out to be. It therefore is given abundant importance in government policy making and fund allocation. Each year our government spends a huge chunk of its reserves on building and promoting educational facilities of various kinds.

Lockdown as a response to COVID 19 outbreak has however disrupted that norm. This pandemic is said to be the greatest crisis mankind has faced after World War II. It has disturbed not only the economic but political, social, religious and financial structures globally. With businesses collapsing and millions losing their jobs, it has upended every aspect of our lives, education being no exception. Most schools in the country have been temporarily shut down for over six months now. As per UNICEF reports, around 27 crore kids in India alone have suffered due to this closure of schools.

Remote learning did emerge as an alternative, but the number of institutions being able to successfully practice it is very low, as they mostly are medium to big sized schools in urban areas. Moreover, even there, while the teaching fraternity has put in efforts to maintain continual learning for students through digital platforms, the students have had to rely on their own resources in terms of availability of smartphones, laptops, internet connections etc. Teachers too had to adapt new modes of delivery of teaching, for which they may not have been trained or have the necessary infrastructure.

Students from privileged backgrounds, supported by their parents and eager and able to learn, could find their way past closed school doors to alternative learning opportunities. But those from disadvantaged backgrounds (that account for about 76% of school going students) are at the risk of falling behind.

This is a matter of serious concern. Various researches have proven that the time gap in education will not only have short term but far reaching economic and social consequences. To quote Annete Dixon, World Bank Vice President for Human Development, “Not being able to attend school impacts children in many ways: children don’t have an opportunity to learn, they may miss their most nutritious meal of the day, and too many students – especially girls – may lose out on the opportunity to complete their education, which will prevent them from achieving their potential.”

Even before the pandemic, India ranked 116 out of 174 in World Bank’s human capital index. The extended break from education combined with loss of family livelihoods due to the pandemic will only worsen the situation, pushing the underprivileged further away towards the brink. What should our future course of action then be? How can we try to mitigate the damages? A result oriented plan synchronizing the roles of government, parents and teachers might be the answer.

Children are used to a structured learning environment. But, currently with no possibility of resuming full - fledged classroom teaching like before, the only way to provide it is via virtual classes. The Ministry of Education recently issued guidelines to reopen schools in a graded manner during Unlock 5 phase, while still laying emphasis on distance / online classes as the preferred mode. With the widespread digital disparity; internet connectivity, smart phones and laptops still being unaffordable luxuries in most households, online learning for the masses would be achievable only if the necessary infrastructure is provided for. This is where we need our government to step in with supportive measures. Private schools in our country are supposed to be ‘non - profit’ organizations. And in the current scenario, with limited to no inflow of money, how does the government plan on advocating virtual learning by making schools pay GST on the hardware and software being purchased? The electricity and water bills are also almost the same as before. 

For years now our government has been functioning with the mid - day meal program to promote school education. And in the view of the current pandemic, it has been trying to help citizens financially by providing free food and /or sending money to bank accounts, but sadly nothing substantial has been done so far to restore the rhythm of schooling. Yes, the government did come up with the idea of conducting classes via radio and television, but its efficacy is far less than interactive online classes. Why does our government then not think it important to come up with a contingency plan? And why do we, as parents not ask questions about it? The children are losing their time and nobody seems to be bothered about the same. Rather we are channelizing our time and ‘limited monetary resources’ towards protesting and creating facade about court orders on fee payments to schools. Multiple times in these last few months, there has been nationwide uproar on fee deposition to schools running online classes. Various state high courts have given decisions, which have repeatedly been challenged either by parents or by schools.  Does it not make more sense to address the bigger problem i.e. loss of time in education? I agree that the subject of fee deposition is worth deliberation. Affirmative, that many are facing economic difficulties, but aren’t the rest just hiding behind that shield?

Parents and teachers are both stakeholders in a child’s upbringing. It is essential that they work in harmony and coordination, helping each other shape the child’s character and skills. The government simply bears responsibility to provide conducive platforms for the two to function together. Thus, in testing times like these, it becomes all the more important that they team up with and not against each other.  Simply dismissing a new teaching technique by calling it ineffective without giving it a fair chance (especially when there aren’t any other feasible alternatives and at the cost of our children’s time) is certainly not the way forward. The only constructive approach here would be if parents and schools get together and demand the authorities to work towards building a functional online schooling model easily accessible to the common man. The digital divide is huge and it needs to be attended to immediately.

Getting both public and private institutions ready for online classes, helping them get equipped with the necessary infrastructure, facilitating teachers’ and parents’ trainings to make them tech friendly, providing smartphones/ laptops, software, internet connectivity for free or at subsidized rates to the economically weaker sections, should be areas of government’s focus.

On July 29, 2020, our new National Education Policy was introduced. The NEP 2020 is a detailed document that aims to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ by 2030. It has suggested a lot of fundamental changes in the current education framework and although there yet aren’t clear guidelines regarding the deadline of its implementation, it has stirred up an ample amount of debates and discussions. A lot has been spoken about its feasibility and effective execution; more questions about ‘how’ rather than ‘what’ have been asked. Strangely no impetus directing out of the current scenario got mentioned.

Another thing out of many that caught my eye was subpart 5 called ‘Teachers’ under part – 1, School Education. It states ‘The high respect for teachers and the high status of the teaching profession must be restored so as to inspire the best to enter the teaching profession. The motivation and empowerment of teachers is required to ensure the best possible future of our children and our nation.’ The word ‘restored’ left a bitter taste in my mouth, not because I am unaware, but simply because it resurfaced the realization of diminishing attraction towards the teaching profession in our society today. Thousands of schools have had to shut down, leaving tens of thousands of teachers unemployed. And has the government done anything to guard their interests? One could wish that just talking about ‘restoring’ the respect and status of the teaching profession would help the teachers get back on their feet. Though education is a state matter but in these extraordinary circumstances could Central and State governments have not got together and taken a decision in the best interest of students, parents and teachers instead of leaving it to individual states, which has led to numerous court cases and multiple decisions by different high courts. We still have time and should learn at the earliest what the pandemic has taught us. Instead of fighting with each other regarding fee let us unite to provide best possible education to all children irrespective of geographical, social and economic boundaries. 

The pandemic has taught us the importance of evolving. It is said ‘Teaching is the one profession that creates all the other professions’. All of us need good teachers to bring out the best in us. But what if the very architecture of our education system starts turning into a demoralized lot? How will it be able to attract any talent? And if our teaching community turns uninspiring, how do we expect our nation to flourish? Unless remedial steps are implemented to boost the education sector, being able to maintain or escalate reverence towards this noble and rudimentary profession will be a distant dream.

This time that we are living through is a crucial one and surviving it calls for a collaborative and tactful approach. The best bet now for long term sustenance is to channelize our resources towards identifying the real loopholes and productively working on corrective and strengthening solutions. In the words of Jaime Saavedra, World Bank Global Director for Education, “We cannot waste this crisis. This shock might have lasting negative impacts, but it must be an opportunity to accelerate, not go back to where we were before.  We will go to a new normal with a different understanding of the role of parents, teachers, and technology.  A new normal that should be more effective, more resilient, more equitable and more inclusive.  We owe it to our children.”