Page 55 - EW FEB 2022

Out-of-school children: grave judgement error

and surveys of domestic institutions such as Pratham Edu- learning, basic reading and numeracy skills have been af-
cation Foundation, CRY and Azim Premji University, Ben- fected, and we are seeing huge dropouts as a result. Online
galuru (APU) have been disregarded. education has not been possible or pedagogically meaning-
A substantial share of the blame for this grave national ful for most children… Keeping schools open is necessary
error of judgement must also accrue to the country’s influ- to reduce this serious harm and resume the processes of
ential middle class which foolishly believes that expensive learning. Schools must be the last to close and the first to
digital technologies insulate their progeny against learn- open,” thunders the belated statement.
ing loss. Simultaneously, for months the mainstream me- Scandalous neglect of the country’s uncomplaining chil-
dia paid no attention to EducationWorld’s whistle-blowing, dren forced to learn from cramped, crowded homes — the
which all dailies and periodicals zealously ignore. floor area of the average Indian home is a mere 494 sq. ft
Finally on January 4, 700 days after all education institu- and often houses three generations — has compelled even
tions countrywide were first ordered to lock down in March private education providers who tend to tread carefully
2020, National Coalition on Education Emergency, a pan- given the myriad powers of state and local governments to
India alliance of individuals, organisations and networks, throw a spanner in their works, to speak up.
issued a statement censuring government for the prolonged “It’s scandalous that two years into the Covid-19 pan-
closure of schools and education institutions which has demic, the Central and state governments are sticking with
done “serious harm” to India’s 260 million school-going the worn-out strategy of shutting down schools to check
children. its spread. This despite scientific evidence that schools are
“Schools have recently opened after remaining mostly not super spreaders and that children are as safe or as at
closed since March 2020, with devastating consequences risk in school as in malls, restaurants and playing spaces.
for the nutrition, health and education of hundreds of thou- Pre-primary and primary school children have been out of
sands of children. Child labour, early marriages, domestic school for 21 months, with the majority of them unable to
violence have increased. It is evident that the absence of afford Internet connectivity and digital devices necessary
structured learning opportunities has caused severe aca- for online learning. The country’s children have suffered
demic regression, young children have forgotten habits of incalculable loss of learning and socio-emotional devel-

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