Page 18 - Education World Dec 2021

Education News

DELHI ment conducted in Karnataka in
Deferred price early 2021 indicates a sharp decline

in children’s learning outcomes.
The percentage of class III stu-
dents who can read class I textbooks
has plunged from an already low 41.8
percent in 2018 to an abysmal 24.2
percent. Moreover, the percentage of
class III children who can recognise
double digit numbers (11-99) has
declined from 78.3 percent to 60.7
percent.
“The devastating impact of the
Covid pandemic on education had
become obvious within the first six-
eight months after its outbreak. But
there’s been complete bankruptcy
of decision-making. The Union
Budget 2021-22 slashed the outlay
for education when the parlia-
mentary standing committee had
recommended an outlay of Rs.2 lakh
Delhi school children: Omicron uncertainty crore for school education. Against
this, the total outlay for education
S SCHOOLS IN DELHI REOPENED Much of this reverse migration in 2021-22 — the pandemic year
after an unprecedented into public education is attributed to — is Rs.93,224 crore,” says rof .
P
Aclosure of 73 weeks (argu- financial distress of parents, closure P ra v e e n J h a , professor of econom-
ably the most prolonged schools of affordable schools, free-of-charge ics at the Jawaharlal Nehru Univer-
closure worldwide) because of the education in government schools and sity, Delhi.
Covid-19 pandemic, there’s looming parental migration. The report also Among sentient educationists
uncertainty about another lockdown notes the proportion of out-of-school and academics, there’s unanimous
following the discovery of Omicron children which had sharply increased agreement that because of the most
— a new variant of the novel Coro- from 1.4 to 4.6 percent in 2020, has prolonged lockdown worldwide of
navirus. remained static in 2021. India’s 1.6 million schools — includ-
Meanwhile on November 17, the A S ER 2 0 2 1 notes that although ing pre-primaries — loss of learning
Mumbai-based Pratham Education ownership of smartphones, which is certain to prove calamitous and
Foundation (PEF, estb.1994) — the enables a modicum of learning from will further widen urban-rural, rich-
country’s most respected indepen- home, has doubled from 36.5 per- poor gaps. Especially, in the absence
dent assessor of student learning cent in 2018 to 67.6 percent in 2021, of any coherent strategy from the
A
outcomes — released its nnual youngest children have little access Union education ministry or state
S tatus of Education R ep ort (R ural) to them. And while state govern- governments to recover children’s
2 0 2 1 or S ER 2021. ments’ textbook distribution record learning loss.
A
The study based on phone-surveys has been good, children’s learning P rof . A n ita R a m p a l , former
conducted by 3,500 Pratham volun- outcomes have plunged sharply dur- dean of department of education
teers with 76,706 households in 581 ing the pandemic lockdown. at Delhi University, recommends
rural districts covering 25 states in Ever since PEF began publishing participatory group learning, open
September-October this year, reports its S ER surveys in 2005, its USP experiments, stories, narrations and
A
a notable exodus from private to gov- has been actual testing of reading stripped curriculums while ensur-
ernment schools. The percentage of and maths capabilities of a represen- ing high teacher morale. “All this
rural children in private schools has tative sample of rural children in 25 and more is critical to recover the
decreased from 32.5 percent in 2018 states and several Union territories. undoubtedly huge learning loss that
to 24.4 percent in 2021 with Uttar Although because of the nationwide India’s children have suffered during
Pradesh (pop.215 million) showing lockdown, ASER volunteers didn’t the pandemic lockdown,” she says.
the highest increase of 13 percent in conduct nationwide learning assess- But the alarm — perhaps panic
government schools. ments in 2021, a statewide assess- — prompted by the world’s most

18 EDUCATIONWORLD DECEMBER 2021