Page 59 - EW FEB 2022

ment behavioural pediatrician, New
Horizons Child Development Cen-
tre, Mumbai, and treasurer of the
Indian Academy of Pediatrics, be-
lieves the “deleterious effect” on the
mental health of India’s 260 million
school-age children could be greater
than their learning loss. “Millions of
children are showing signs of anxiety,
depression, irritability, poor attention
span, hyperactivity, sleep disturbanc-
es and post-traumatic stress disor-
der with younger children below six
years showing regressive behaviours
like clinging to parents, thumbsuck-
ing and bedwetting. We are facing a
grave child mental health crisis,” says
Dr. Dalwai, a member of Maharashtra Dalwai: child mental health crisis Mistri: colossal repair task ahead
state’s Covid-19 Pediatric Task Force. financial loss with many forced into and middle class were quiescent, chil-
D ALWAI IS UNEQUIVO- bankruptcy. Unpaid tuition fees have dren’s education loss and mental and

CAL that state govern-
accumulated during the past two years
emotional damage are water under
ments should no longer
essential for the country’s best minds
dilly-dally on the issue of lockdown following reckless fee de- the bridge, a fait accompli. Now it’s
ferment directives passed by several
of reopening schools countrywide. state governments. A nationwide sur- to focus on repairing the damage and
“There’s sufficient scientific evidence vey conducted last year by the Delhi- saving the future of the world’s largest
that children infected with Covid-19 based National Independent Schools child and youth population.
don’t fall severely ill and that schools Alliance (NISA) — which has a mem- In this connection, India Needs To
are not Covid hotspots. For instance, bership of 60,000 BPS countrywide — Learn — A Case for Keeping Schools
in the few districts of Maharashtra indicates that only 38 percent of tu- Open, a study released by the Boston
where schools briefly reopened last ition fees were paid. This has severely Consulting Group and Teach For In-
year, there is zero Covid-19 mortality disrupted cash flows and financial vi- dia (TFI) on the eve of India’s 73rd
in children. In fact more children die ability of BPS, and the livelihoods of Republic Day, provides a route map.
annually in road accidents in Mumbai an estimated 5 million teachers. Over For a start, the report recommends
than due to Covid-19. Moreover with 80 percent of private school teachers adoption of a “philosophy of schools
over 74 percent of the adult popula- have not been paid their salaries for being last to close and first to open”.
tion double vaccinated, chances of five months and/or have suffered pay And to repair pandemic lockdown
children transmitting the virus to cuts adding to the huge number of un- damage, it recommends that state
adults are negligible. Therefore, there employed. governments decentralise school re-
is no reason to lock down schools any Be that as it may, with India having opening and closures to granular level,
longer,” argues Dalwai. established a dubious world record of e.g, municipal ward, gram panchayat,
In this connection, it’s also perti- keeping schools — indeed all educa- block levels. Second, it recommends
nent to bear in mind that world’s lon- tion institutions — under lockdown for adoption of digital technology-driven
gest schools closure in India has not 82 weeks while the academy, media blended learning through the year
only blighted the future of the world’s i.e, continuation of online education.
largest child and youth population, Third, it recommends intensive test-
it has inflicted additional damage on “There’s sufficient scientific ing (e.g, weekly antigen tests), vacci-
India’s already fragile education eco- nation (mandatory for school staff),
system. evidence that children safety protocols (e.g, masking) and
In particular, the country’s infected with Covid-19 don’t ventilation (leverage outdoor spaces,
450,000 budget private schools (BPS) monitor ventilation) and pulling out
which provide affordable education to fall severely ill and schools all stops to make good the learning
a staggering 60 million children at tu- are not Covid hotspots” — Dr. loss suffered by children.
ition fees ranging between Rs.6,000- Samir Dalwai “The 650-plus days of severely dis-
30,000 per year, have suffered huge rupted learning, with schools nation-

FEBRUARY 2022 EDUCATIONWORLD 59