Page 34 - EducationWorld January 2021

Cover Story

don-based agencies which rate and ment of students’ learning outcomes,
rank 3,000 universities globally — was and immediate feedback empow-
already backward when the Coronavi- ers children and makes the learning
rus rapidly spread around the world process more engaging for them. Al-
and forced closure of all education though there is the hard reality of a
institutions across the spectrum for digital divide between the upper and
over nine months. Now there is clear middle class children and the rest,
and present danger that the already there will be heavy pressure from be-
shaky education of the vast major- low for the Central and state govern-
ity of India’s children, especially 140 ments to replicate the digital educa-
million children struggling in under- tion provided in private institutions in
provisioned government schools, will government schools. The new blended
suffer severe loss of learning continu- learning revolution in Indian educa-
ity and drop out to join the unskilled tion is here to stay,” says Prof. Geeta
labour force and add to the country’s Kingdon, chair of education develop-
widening pool of unemployed adults. ment economics at University College,
London and president of City Montes-
I NEVITABLY THE MALIGNANT Geeta Kingdon: heavy pressure forecast sori School, Lucknow, ranked the #1

co-ed day school in Uttar Pradesh
winds that have blown the
Coronavirus over the Indian
Undoubtedly, the country’s 2,500-
polity which was already ex- ing continuity of their students. Al- (pop. 215 million) in EWISR 2020-21.
most every private school — including
periencing decelerating economic the majority of low-price budget pri- 3,000 mainly private schools with
growth last March, have also blown vate schools — is reporting that it has good leadership and resources rated
some good. They have thrust adop- successfully installed learning apps to and ranked in the EWISR 2020-21
tion and adaptation of new IT-enabled teach children online for at least few have responded to the Covid-19 pan-
digital education technologies into the hours daily. demic with exemplary speed and effi-
country’s reluctant classrooms. Revo- Certainly all 2,500 primary-sec- ciency. Promoters and principals of all
lutionary information technologies ondary schools included in the Edu- of them — including top-ranked low-
made their debut in Indian industry cationWorld India School Rankings fee budget private schools — claim to
over three decades ago and several In- 2020-21 league tables (see EW No- have smoothly shifted online to main-
dian companies such as TCS, Infosys, vember & December editions) have tain learning continuity. In particular
HCL and NIIT have become highly smoothly transitioned to virtual teach- there is high praise for their teachers
competitive global brands. Even gov- ing-learning pedagogies with some ex- and staff for ready acceptance of digi-
ernment ministries and departments pecting better board exam results in tal pedagogies and training.
have gone digital. However the coun- 2021 than in the previous year. “Our teachers have responded cou-
try’s education institutions, especially Although the number of schools rageously and magnificently to the
in the K-12 segment, have been slow to included in the annual EWISR — the totally unexpected lockdown order.
warm to the IT revolution which has world’s largest schools rankings proj- They enthusiastically signed up for a
transformed teaching-learning pro- ect (estb.2007) — is relatively small, three-week digital tech learning pro-
cesses and systems around the world. these role model schools have a pow- gramme followed by periodic in-ser-
Surprisingly the Covid-19 pan- erful demonstration effect country- vice workshops. By quickly becoming
demic which without warning forced wide. Therefore they have created na- familiar with and utilising platforms
the shutdown of all education institu- tional awareness of the importance of such as Zoom, Google Classroom,
tions countrywide since mid-March, introducing new digital technologies Seesaw and several apps and videos,
has provoked a spirited positive re- into the country’s classrooms. they have continued the academic
sponse from the country’s estimated “The silver lining of the unprece- and co-curricular education of our
9 million school teachers community. dented Covid-19 pandemic which has children. I am quite sure that in the
Across the country, institutional man- taken a terrible toll in terms of loss CBSE school-leaving class XII exam,
agements and teachers, especially of of economic growth and livelihoods our students will maintain their aver-
450,000 private schools which host is that radical digital technologies- age score of 2020, if not improve upon
47.5 percent of in-school children, driven pedagogies, which otherwise it,” says Charu Wahi, principal of
have responded with alacrity to new would have taken two decades, have Nirmal Bhartia School, Delhi (NiBS,
digital information communication been forced into classrooms. Learning estb.2006) which has 1,100 students
technologies (ICT) to maintain learn- apps such as Mentimeter, Geogebra, mentored by 105 teachers on its mus-
Kahoot etc enable instant measure- ter rolls. This expectation is quite

34 EDUCATIONWORLD JANUARY 2021