Building a resilient school education system

Context: The use of technology, while not without its challenges, offers a path to a more resilient and better-quality educational system for India.

Challenges to education in India: 

• Impact of COVID-19 : Pandemic has halted the entire country due to the emergent necessity of social distancing norms.

• Various surveys show that parents are not comfortable sending children to school given the risk of infection.

• Local calamities: disrupts the functioning of the education system.

• Since, 1990 Andhra Pradesh (AP) has been hit by 12 cyclones, seven of which were in the last decade.
• Odisha has been hot by 6 cyclones, 5 within the last decade.

• Issues with online modes of instructions:

• Low ownership of computers or smartphones.

• The National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) 71st Round shows that computer and internet access to be low at 11% and 21% respectively among households with school-going age children.

• Problems with internet connectivity and challenges with power availability reduce its efficacy to a large population.
• Ability of our teachers to teach online: as existing teachers are unfamiliar with online instructions; problems to computer and internet also applies to them.

• Lack of infrastructure: majority of schools in the country do not have the required infrastructure to adhere to social distancing. (District information System for Education (DISE) data)

• As of 2016, 17.7 % of schools have only one teacher.
• Odisha,  AP and Telangana have one in 10 schools with only one classroom, as compared to the national average of 25.
• Non- availability of functioning toilets.

• Digital Divide: 

• Government school students have much lower access to computers (5%) compared to private school students (20%).
• The gap is starker when rich (40%) and poor households (2%) are compared.

Way Forward: 

• Rethink modes of delivery: that can reach larger sections-

• For E.g. The recently announced e-Vidya initiatives which aim to deliver education through dedicated television channels including community radios.
• With local teachers roped in, this could fill the gap to an extent.

• Investments: 

• Investment in digital infrastructure so that access to faster and more reliable internet is universal.
• Investments in innovating with new curricula and pedagogy that are more amenable to mixed delivery.
• Investment in teacher training.
• By the families in smartphones and computers.