The Blank Pages In India’s Online Learning Experience

Context: Adoption of Digital learning to tackle the impact of the COVID-19 on education sector has some challenges associated with it.

Digital learning Initiatives: Free e-learning platforms under Ministry of Human Resource Development.

• Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (Diksha) portal: It has e-learning content aligned to the curriculum.
• e-Pathshala: an app by the National Council of Educational Research and Training for Classes 1 to 12 in multiple languages.
• Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM): It hosts 1,900 complete courses; SWAYAM Prabha: A group of 32 direct to home channels devoted to education.

Problems associated with digital learning: during COVID-19 lockdowns.

• Challenges of delivery: especially of pedagogical processes, classroom assessment frameworks, students' support and teacher-student engagement.
• Poor accessibility: e.g. in many states, a majority of children, especially girl students, have missed out much on the various e-mail platforms offered.
• Failed to take into account existing divides: spatial, digital, gender and class.
  • Gender divide: While boys became inattentive, girls were burdened with household chores.
  • In States such as Rajasthan, for e.g. the access of girls to education during the COVID-19 period was limited to 11% due to lack of devices, poor or no Internet;
  • United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) points out that school closures exposed the uneven distribution of technology needed to facilitate remote learning. 
• Psychological impacts: Girl students, in particular were apprehensive of early marriages. 
• Impacted welfare programmes: Like the mid-day meal scheme, the school health programme and pre-metric scholarships to girl children.
• Teaching problems: Due to lack of digital infrastructure of state and poorly equipped teachers.

Alternative to digital learning: A model adopted by Non-Government Organisation (NGOs)

• Catering mostly to the poor and backward segments, these schools did not go online.
• Instead, teachers visited individual students at home and taught children in small groups.

Way Forward

• Modify education planning: to be context specific, gender responsive and inclusive.
• Adopt enabling measures: That should 
  • Including access to online education, 
  • Removal of barriers removal of barriers in pre­metric scholarships.
  • Ensuring the provision of mid­ day meals, iron and folic acid tablets and provision of personal hygiene products to girl students even when schools are closed.
  • Encouraging enrolment:
    • Re-enrolment of children as school re-opens: under the National Education Policy 2020.
    • Mass outreach programmes should be developed with civil society to encourage re­ enrolment.
  • Retain the poorest at school: Through remedial tuitions, counselling, scholarships, targeted cash transfers and other entitlements and make secondary education for girls free.
• Increase the budgetary share of education: to 6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as emphasised by the President of India.