Generational Catastrophe

Aimed at creating an education system that contributes directly to transforming the country by providing high-quality education to all, some of the important takeaways of New Education Policy, cleared by the Union Cabinet on this July 29, with respect to schooling, looks impressive.  

The intent to introduce a “5+3+3+4” structure of school education, where children in 3-8 year age group will fall in the foundation stage; 8-11 – preparatory; 11-14 – middle and 14-18 – secondary has found support from several quarters as a progressive and scientific approach to education.

Notably, the plan to teach students until Class 5 in their mother tongue or regional language has been met with mixed reactions.

The idea to extend the free-of-charge mid-day meal programme (MDM), to pre-school children can improve their nutritional status from their early years. Considered the largest school feeding programme in the world, MDM reportedly covers an estimated 12 crore primary and upper primary school children in the age group of 6-14 years across 12 lakh schools in India. Last year, the allocation by the central government was a whopping Rs 12,054 crore. This year the Centre has increased the annual allocation for mid-day meal scheme by Rs 800 crore. In wake of COVID-19, MDM has been provided even during summer vacations this year aimed at benefiting about 11.5 crore children studying in classes 1 to 8 in 11.34 lakh schools across the country.

For a moment, let’s ponder over the Policy Brief: “Education during COVID-19 and beyond”, released by the United Nations Secretary General on 4 August this year.

Importantly, by highlighting how the closure of schools and other learning spaces have adversely impacted 94% of the world’s student population (up to 99% in low and lower-middle income countries), the writing on the wall is clear.

That the global pandemic has indeed created the largest disruption of education systems in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries across all continents and India is no exception.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, nearly 321 million Indian children have been at home since March-end and there is no clarity on when the schools would reopen. Worldwide, tertiary education is likely to experience the highest dropout rate and a projected 3.5 per cent decline in enrolment, resulting in 7.9 million fewer students. Pre-primary education is the second worst affected level with a projected 2.8 per cent decline in enrolment, i.e. 5 million fewer children attending. According to these projections, 0.27 per cent of primary and 1.48 per cent of secondary education students, corresponding to 5.2 million girls and 5.7 million boys at both levels, risk dropping out of school. School closures do not only undermine education. They also hamper the provision of essential services to children and communities, including access to a balanced diet and parents’ ability to go to work. They also increase risks of violence against women and girls.

According to the Brief, these decisions carry enormous social and economic implications and will have lasting effects on educators, on children and youth, on their parents – especially women – and indeed on societies as a whole.

The largest share of learners at risk, some 5.9 million of them live in South and West Asia. Another 5.3 million students at risk are in sub-Saharan Africa.

With both regions at the receiving end of severe educational challenges pre-COVID-19, their situation could worsen considerably considering the precedent during the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone. There schools were closed for nine months to stop the spread of infection. But during this period, children who were out of school and vulnerable to exploitation suffered the most. Teenage pregnancies shot up by over 60 per cent and 11,000 girls who were previously in school got pregnant.

With researchers in Canada estimating that the socio-economic skills gap could increase by more than 30 per cent due to the pandemic, the learning loss, in the short and long term, is expected to be great.

Notably, the UN, has pinpointed that in low-income countries in particular,  with the onset of the pandemic, many parents stopped paying fees, scores of teachers lost their livelihoods, or how when teachers were immediately tasked with implementing distance learning modalities, often without sufficient guidance, training, or resources – the confusion it created amongst parents and children. In India too there have been complaints of some schools allegedly hiking fees or not permitting children to join online classes for default in fee payment.

So, is e-learning not a sustainable solution to the COVID19 education crisis in India?

If news reports are to be believed, the smartphone does link the children to their teachers and many seem to enjoy e-learning like noting down daily assignments, completing them and sending it back to their teachers. There are others who complain that online learning, including video links and WhatsApp assignments, are not helpful for poor families, hoping that the schools would reopen soon.

There have been some negative consequences of e-learning as well. Sample this - despite incurring huge losses in business due to COVID-19 lockdown, the father of a 12-year-old girl got her a smart phone somehow collecting Rs 10,000. Nonetheless, the girl believed to be quite frustrated with online classes and homework, committed suicide by hanging when her mother asked her to complete the homework. 

In another tragic incident, a 15-year-old class 10 student allegedly committed suicide after he failed to attend online classes and examinations in the absence of a smartphone. 

An educationally gifted 15-year-old class 10 student committed suicide because she was unable to attend online classes. She was so depressed with the feeling that her academic performance would be greatly affected even if she missed a single class as the TV at her home was non-functional and she couldn’t possess a smartphone since her father, a daily labourer, hadn’t earned anything during lockdown.

Suffice to say that online classes does seem to pose significant challenges for students with limited access to smartphones, computers and reliable internet connections. To overcome the dilemma faced by many students from low-income families who cannot afford smartphones, it is all the more necessary that vulnerable families receive practical support in such situations. 

In so far as availability of computers and internet connections, a peek into the NSS 75th round (July 2017- June 2018) survey on Household Social Consumption would show that households possessing a computer was a meagre 4.4 per cent in rural India compared to 23.4 per cent in urban areas. Similarly, only 14.9 per cent households in rural and 42 per cent in urban areas had an internet connection.

Forget online learning. Even in face-to-face formal learning, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2019) released this January, only 16 per cent of children in Class 1 in 26 surveyed rural districts can read text at the prescribed level, while almost 40 per cent cannot even recognise letters. Further, only 41 per cent of these children could recognise two digit numbers. 

In short, a large number of factors determine the quality of education received at this stage that includes the child’s home background, especially the mother’s education level. The learning is clear: it pays to focus on play-based activities which build memory, reasoning etc., than an early focus on content knowledge.

The country may boast of having nearly 4 lakh unaided private schools with more than 7.9 crore students enrolled. Despite a surge in school enrolments/infrastructure development in the primary and secondary segments, have not the learning outcomes have kept pace?

Well, the adverse impact of COVID-19 has been so drastic that with rents, power, water bills and salaries mounting steadily one side and fees drying up, many private unaided schools have reportedly shut down. Once employed, teachers are a troubled lot today. With their salaries remaining unpaid, or paid partially, some seem to earn a livelihood as manual labourers or by selling fruits and vegetables, vending tea, while others with over several years of experience are said to serve as daily wagers to support their families.

The need to “prevent the learning crisis from becoming a generational catastrophe needs to be a top priority for world leaders and the entire education community” is the most important warning that the UN Policy Brief has tried to convey. 

It would be worthwhile for policy makers to give a thought to its four important recommendations: 1) Suppress transmission of the virus and plan thoroughly for school reopening. 2) Protect education budgets and include education in COVID stimulus packages; 3) Strengthen the resilience of education systems for equitable and sustainable development and 4) Reimagine education and accelerate positive change in teaching and learning.