Page 33 - EducationWorld January 2021

Two facets of Indian education: Covid-19 pandemic exposes deep digital learning inequality

their livelihoods during the past six months, 24 percent of outcomes in rural primaries — especially in 1.20 million
Indian households that own smartphones are unable to af- government schools — are going from bad to worse. To no
ford Internet charges for children’s online classes. avail. Not only is the annual outlay (Centre plus states) for
Typically, the reaction of the Central and state govern- public education (of which 40 percent is expended on over-
ments to the ominous pandemic cloud looming over the subsidised higher education) stuck in the 3.3.25 percent of
world’s largest — and high-potential — child and youth pop- GDP groove, the neta-babu brotherhood is pulling out all
ulation has been lethargic and negligent. The plain truth as stops to discourage the promotion of private schools.
reiterated ad nauseam by your editors with a mountain of This unholy nexus is hell-bent on forcing the closure of
data, is that neither India’s neta-babu brotherhood which the country’s unique 400,000 budget private schools (BPS)
has micro-managed the low growth Indian economy for which have emerged as viable alternatives to dysfunctional
seven decades, nor the middle class establishment, has government schools defined by crumbling infrastructure,
sufficiently grasped the intimate connection between uni- poor sanitation, chronic teacher absenteeism, rock-bottom
versal high-quality education and national development. learning outcomes and English language aversion. Under
This is conclusively evidenced by the failure of successive s. 19 of the landmark Right of Children to Free & Com-
governments at the Centre and in the states to increase the pulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, impossibly onerous
annual national outlay for public education to 6 percent of infrastructure and teacher-pupil norms have been made
GDP as first recommended by the Kothari Commission in mandatory for BPS on pain of heavy fines and forced clo-
1967, and by several officially appointed committees and sure. Brazenly, government schools are exempt from adher-
commissions since. ing to s.19 norms.
Moreover since 2004, the globally respected, Mumbai- In sum, Indian education from pre-primary to Ph D —
based Pratham Education Foundation (estb.1994) which not one of India’s 1,008 universities some of whom are of
publishes its authoritative Annual Status of Education Re- over 150 years vintage, is ranked among the Top 200 in the
port based on field testing of children in rural India, has annual WUR (World University Rankings) league tables of
been highlighting that reading, writing and math learning QS or Times Higher Education, the highly-reputed Lon-

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