Authors: Haniya, Malika Iyer, Revathi Satish, Sharanya Maheshwary & Simran Sharma
There is a common saying among Indians which roughly translates to, “Do well in life, especially with your academics. There is another child who isn’t as entitled as you.”
Schooling is a right that every child in the world is entitled to. However, the sad reality is that effective education is a privilege available only to a few in India. While there are both government bodies and private organizations striving towards bridging the learning divide, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has only widened this gap.
Shambhavi is a student residing in rural India, studying in a government school that has partnered with ‘Teach For India’. At first, she thought that education was not her cup of tea. However, once she commenced her educational journey, the different atmosphere and exposure at the TFI school paired with mid-day meals as an incentive brought about a difference in her thought process.
Shambhavi began to enjoy learning. In a span of two years, she has reached many of her initial goals, including learning to read English from scratch. Unfortunately, the pandemic has put her aspirations on hold. Realizing the problem, a few teachers commenced the hunt for viable solutions.
Shambhavi was one of the lucky few that had access to a family mobile. However, even then, she was never able to finish the homework because she never had enough data to view the entire 40-minute documentary, complete online homework, or attend “Zoom calls”.
This is the ground reality of education in under-resourced settings in India. According to a Pew survey conducted in 2018, India ranks last in internet penetration despite being a tech giant and having the second largest internet population in the world.
Keeping in mind the barriers faced by lesser privileged families in accessing education during such adverse and unforeseen circumstances, state governments decided to take action. Some states like Himachal Pradesh chose to focus on academics and asked teachers to create material that they could broadcast on television and radio. ‘Doordarshan’, a channel created to serve the common people and broadcast educational material, offered time slots to different states to telecast educational programs in their respective regional dialects. Other states chose to deliver mid-day meals via Anganwadi workers. Some states went a step ahead and started delivering services.
In the private sphere, NGOs like Teach for India started raising funds to buy devices and data packs for students. Other NGOs like Avanti recognized the fact that an average data pack would not have the bandwidth to download large video and audio files. Thus, they created bite-sized educational videos and uploaded them on social media forums like Tik Tok.
While all these efforts are innovative, the question ‘is this enough to bridge the learning gap?’ is one that is yet to be answered.
In the unlikely scenario that India is able to provide every student with a device, as well as develop a stable, nationwide internet connection, a whole different array of problems may arise, ranging from a lack of technological knowledge to a lack of adequate personal space to attend classes. Another issue stems from the cultural diversity in India. Many programs released by the Central Government, like the E-Vidya Scheme, are available in either Hindi or English, which engenders a language barrier for a multitude of students across the country.
How Can This Gap Of Access Be Bridged?
A way to bridge the barrier would be decentralization of the E-Vidya scheme. Decentralization allows for customization of the content on DIKSHA, community radios and TV channels. It seems that many educators are not aware of the program due to lack of adequate publicity. State governments have a greater comprehension of the demography and desiderata of the citizens and would thus be able to publicize it in an efficient manner. Furthermore, supplementing it with SMS or IVR based learning through toll-free calls can help reach students with minimal access to technology.
To build resilience for occurrences like the COVID-19 pandemic in the future, India must be equipped with opportune infrastructure and training. Students and teachers of lower socioeconomic classes require access to the Internet and a minimum of one device. Students, teachers, and principals need to undertake capacity building for digital learning. Large scale student and teacher training workshops need to be held.
All schools should mandate technological skill-acquisition sessions as well as Information Technology classes. Through a partnership with Alphabet Inc, Loon Balloons could be utilized to provide connectivity to rural areas. Data packs could be allocated. Smartphones or tablets could be distributed to those in need. These could be obtained through fundraising or drives. Public-private partnerships and an increase in the government’s education budget are advised to cover the costs.
There is a need to reorient the curriculum to equip students with the competencies required as a 21st century professional – a need that escalates during a pandemic. Children must be taught about all aspects of life and not just given information. This crisis is teaching us that curricula must be grounded in students’ realities, cultivating critical, creative, and flexible thinking, resilience, and empathy in students.
Developing a symbiotic relationship with our environment has taken on a new urgency, and teachers must help students think about their relationship with the universe and everyone and everything in it.
They must be taught to adapt to diverse circumstances, like switching to e-learning in the event of a pandemic, learning to function and working effectively when pulled out of their comfort zones, and learning to work with a diverse group of people. These are indispensable aspects of personality development that will ensure students collectively perform as well-knit teams.
While complacency and inaction over the years have led to the current struggle to achieve high standards, the recent National Education Policy 2020 aims to reform some of these inefficiencies. If not resolved, India risks spiralling deeper towards an under-educated and unskilled populace. The effectiveness of the implementation of the ambitious goals in the policy, however, remains to be explored.
For countless children like Shambhavi, education is a powerful tool that can pull their families, communities out of its social and economic problems. It is the only tool that can empower the poor and bridge social divides that plague this country, effectively and lastingly.