By Glenn C Kharkongor
According to UNESCO, 73.5% of all students are out of school. Education has been completely closed down in 182 countries. Totally 1.29 billion learners are missing school. Of these 321 million are in India, one-fourth of the world total.
Across India, according to a research study conducted by Brainwiz, there have been major disruptions to education in the last two years. For instance, since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, schools across Jammu and Kashmir lost over 60 working days. Extreme weather conditions and pollution levels forced a loss of 120 days across states such as Delhi, Puducherry, Punjab and West Bengal. Political rallies and bandhs added over 30 lost days. Additional school days have been lost to curfews in the Northeast.
These cumulative losses to education are termed as “aggregate shock” by UNESCO. The report details the damage to child learners, not only in terms of cognitive deprivation, but also in mental health, social well-being, and sexual threat. It especially focuses on the future economic damage that will be caused by disruptions to education. Children become unwitting victims in a world dominated by the priority for adult benefits.
In Australia, the federal education minister Dan Tehan has described the closure of education as a “sledgehammer”. And that is in a developed country. The effect among the vast poor student population in India will be even more devastating.
Limitations of e-education
Much is being made of the efforts to provide e-learning across school, secondary and higher education. Predatory “ed-tech” companies are already seeking ways to cash in and their marketing campaigns are gaining strength. But irrespective of the quality of online learning, it can only offer a temporary respite. It cannot take the place of conventional education.
The classroom provides irreplaceable face-to-face interaction with a teacher, and social contact with fellow students. Apart from the syllabus there are life lessons like ‘sharing’, ‘taking your turn’, tolerance for other ethnic and religious groups. The extra-curricular activities provide well-roundedness and children deprived of these benefits will be stunted in several respects.
A large proportion of students do not have smart phones or internet connections. Live sessions, graphics, and large text downloads require high bandwidth. Zoom classes need a laptop or desktop. Even then, there may be three children in one home who each needs their own device as online classes are concurrent since they follow regular school hours. But these are problems of middle class homes.
Poor and rural students, who are a majority of learners are further marginalised. According to a survey by the Economist, only 20% of poor children have online access in any form, and only 60% among the lower middle class.
Actually middle-class homes that have good internet bandwidth and laptops will not suffer that much. The younger ones receive enough stimulation at home and the older children have e-learning resources at their disposal.
Mental health
The mental health implications of the COVID-19 outbreak are far reaching. In Thailand, a recent survey of 6,771 students conducted by the United Nations, found that more than 70% of children and young people said the pandemic is causing stress, worry and anxiety. More than half of the respondents also said they are worried about studies, exams, and their future education and employment. Seven per cent were concerned about domestic violence.
The UN Report also found that not all consequences of the pandemic are as visible. Strict isolation measures, the closure of schools and workplaces, and loss of income to many families will continue to have long-term negative impacts upon education, health, and wellbeing.
The same report also concluded that home learning may itself be a source of stress for families and learners, with pressure on parents to take on home-teaching. In many homes, the parents are poorly educated, or have low ability in English or the language of textbooks and instruction, and so unable to help with home schooling. Studying on one’s own needs high motivation and small children cannot be expected to be so committed.
From earlier data we know that there are heightened sexual and reproductive health vulnerabilities and risks when schools close for more than a few weeks, particularly among the most disadvantaged, and among girls. Rates of child abuse and unintended pregnancy increase.
Further marginalization of the poor
The costs of closure are even more staggering for the poor, whose families are rendered even poorer by loss of work. Younger children lose out on the cognitive stimulation of the classroom. The damage done to children by lost learningfalls most heavily on the youngest, who also miss out on picking up social and emotional skills.
Children from poor families now have even less to eat at home and are missing the school mid-day meal. Older children will have to care for younger children in the home, and help parents with other responsibilities, curbing self-study time. In this scenario an extra burden falls on the older girl child.
The health risks for girls who can no longer attend school are not limited to the virus. Without school, home confinement means there is a heightened risk of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
Following the Ebola crisis, Sierra Leone saw a huge rise in adolescent pregnancy, which, according to the children themselves, was directly linked to school closures. In some communities, pregnancy will be a permanent barrier to a girl returning to education even once the COVID-19 crisis ends. Moreover, during the crisis, maternity and reproductive resources and facilities are likely to be redirected to counter the pandemic, posing additional threats to the health and safety of adolescent girls and young women.
Covid threat to school children
Evidence is growing that school-age children are a low risk population. In the state of New South Wales in Australia, school aged children are around 16% of the population, but only 1.7% of Covid-19 cases had been recorded in this age group. A new report, cited by the chief medical officer of the state, as the federal government advocates the reopening of schools, says children are unlikely to transmit Covid-19 between each other or to adults.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the European Union’s public-health agency, said last week that child-to-adult transmission “appears to be uncommon”. The chance of a child developing a severe illness is 2000 times less than a person over 60. So opening of schools in green zones, with no active positive cases, should not present a significant danger.
Graded opening of schools
In most of India, the summer holidays have provided a buffer against a heavy loss of school days, because of Covid. Karnataka has announced that it will prune the syllabus for schools to reduce the curriculum burden in a truncated school year. Assam is considering a change in the school year schedule to reduce loss of school days. Meghalaya schools which have their long break in the winter, cannot afford to have much more closure in the mid-year.
Schools in the Shillong Agglomeration Area
Step 1: From June 1: open all secondary and higher secondary schools with only 9-12th standards to prevent crowding on campus. Universities and colleges could open with only the final year UG and PG classes. There would be no assembly or contact sports.
Step 2: From July 1:open all schools for all classes and all UG and PG batches in colleges and universities.Students from outside the state could also join, provided inter-state travel has been permitted. Such students could be quarantined, if the then rules so specify.
Schools outside the Shillong area
Open all schools and colleges in green districts from June 1 or earlier. It is unlikely that these schools will have teachers or students (boarders) from red zones or outside the state. For the few that may be from outside, they could join later.