Page 58 - EW FEB 2022

Special Report

Why schools shouldn’t lockdown and in a hurry, causes great stress and challenges, human
and technical.
Childcare neglect. In the absence of alternatives, working par-
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and ents often leave children alone at home. This can lead to risky
Cultural Organisation (Unesco, estb.1945), school lockdowns behaviour, including increased influence of peer pressure and
impose heavy social and economic costs for entire national substance abuse.
communities with the impact most severe for vulnerable and High economic costs. Working parents are more likely to miss
marginalised children. The socio-economic damage of pro- work to take care of children. This results in lost wages and
longed closure of schools includes: productivity.
Interrupted learning. Schooling provides essential learning. Dropouts pandemic. It is a challenge to ensure children and youth
When schools close, children are deprived of opportunities return to continue their education when schools reopen. This
for growth and development. The disadvantages are dispro- is especially true of protracted closures and when economic
portionate for underprivileged learners who tend to have fewer shocks force children into work to boost incomes of financially
educational options beyond school. distressed families.
Nutrition loss. Many children and youth rely on free or dis- Increased exposure to violence and exploitation. When schools lock
counted meals provided within schools for food and healthy down, child marriages increase, children are recruited into
nutrition. When schools close, children’s growth and develop- militias, sexual exploitation of girls and young women rises
ment is compromised. and teenage pregnancies become common.
Confusion and stress for teachers. When schools close, especially Social isolation. Schools are hubs of social activity and hu-
unexpectedly and for long duration, teachers become unsure man interaction. When schools close, children and youth are
of their obligations and ways and means to maintain connec- deprived of social contact, essential to learning and develop-
tion with students to support learning. Transition to distance ment.
learning platforms tends to be messy and frustrating, even in Learning measurement challenges. Calendared assessment, no-
best circumstances. tably high-stakes examinations that determine admission or
Parents forced to homeschool. When schools lock down, parents advancement to higher education and institutions, are thrown
are asked to facilitate children’s learning at home. They are into disarray. Anti-social temptation to postpone, skip or ad-
struggling to discharge this obligation. This is especially true minister distance examinations raise doubts about fairness,
for parents with limited education and resources. especially when access to learning is variable. Disruption of
Online learning stress. Demand for distance learning skyrockets assessment schedules imposes stress for students and their
and often overwhelms existing portals providing remote edu- families and can prompt disengagement.
cation. Moving learning from classrooms to homes at scale Source: Unesco
“ ALMOST TWO YEARS AF- taneously, intensive teacher develop-

TER the pandemic and ac-
ment is imperative for the success of
cumulating data testifying to
State governments need to urgently
children’s learning loss, it’s any learning recovery programme.
inexplicable why there are no inten- invest resources and expertise in re-
sive discussions at the national and medial education programmes and
state levels on remedial education begin the learning recovery process,”
programmes. The Union education warns Prof. B.S. Rishikesh, who
ministry should have taken the lead heads the Hub for Education, Law
in periodically preparing and dissemi- & Policy at Azim Premji University,
nating guidelines to the states on best Bengaluru.
remedial education strategies. With Typically, if at all, IAS and state
most children out of school for almost cadre generalist bureaucrats who
two years, short-term bridge courses dominate the Union and state educa-
of three-four months won’t be suffi- tion ministries, are aware of the learn-
cient. Children need at least a year- Rishikesh: remedial education silence ing loss suffered by children during
long bridge programme, if not more, the pandemic, they are unlikely to be
to come up to age-appropriate learn- ing the syllabus. It is a complete rede- cognizant about the damage done to
ing levels. For instance in Karnataka, sign to ensure appropriate foundation the mental health and well-being of
we have recommended a year-long is provided to children so that by end children cooped up for almost two
learning recovery programme and of March 2023, they are able to learn years.
this is different from merely truncat- at their age-appropriate level. Simul- Dr. Samir H. Dalwai, develop-

58 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2022