The COVID-19 pandemic has steered to the shutting down of schools, and there is no chance of these schools to restart any time soon. In our country 73% of 1.04 million schools are government-run and 54% of school-going children attend such schools. Further, the data of UNESCO revealed that more than 143 million primary school children and more than 133 million secondary school children in India are likely to be affected by school closures due to the pandemic induced lockdown.

The lasting effect of the pandemic on our socio-economic systems remains obscure, but one cannot imagine the loss the pandemic will impose on children.

Digital divide

Recently, the Central government has emerged with several digital platforms like e-VIDYA, DIKSHA, SWAYAM to reach out to all layers of society, but only a handful amount of children are availing these platforms as a majority of them lack the availability of resources, needed to access these classes.

According to the report of Mission Antyodaya, a nationwide survey of villages conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development in 2017-’18, only 24% Indians own a smartphone and only 11% of households possess any type of computer. Similarly, the report of the National Sample Survey on Education (2017-18) revealed that the internet facility is available to only 24% of Indian households. While 66% of people in our country live in villages, only 15% of them have access to internet services.

While private schools have coped up with the new alternative i.e. digital classes, for those who study in government schools, the evident digital divide has left their education in the lurch..

At a time, where these children are already out of education system for more than four months in a row, it will not only affect their learning-level and mental-stress but will also lead to a spike in child labour, forced marriages and poverty, if this situation continues to persist. 

Our concerns-Infrastructure woes

An overcrowded classroom with a chaotic learning environment can adversely affect a student’s learning capabilities. According to the U-DISE 2017-18 survey, only 56% of schools have access to electricity. There are 43% of schools in our country which have no playgrounds and about 40% of schools do not have a boundary wall.

The School Education Quality Index (SEQI) report of Niti Ayog further  states that schools in our country are running without a computer, 23% without a ramp, 79% without a playground, 81% schools do not have electricity, 2% schools do not have a separate toilet for boys, 1% do not have girl’s toilets & 0.4% are running without proper buildings. 

Learning levels

Rural children go to school but the quality of learning they get is not upto the standard. Their basic skills in reading and arithmetic are very low. As per ASER 2018 data, only 73% of Class-VIII students can read a Class-II level text. And only 44% of children in Class-VIII can answer a basic arithmetic question.

At Atmashakti, we undertook a study in five states e.g. Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh & Delhi to assess the learning levels of school children of Class-III, Class-V and Class-VIII. The assessment report flagged poor level of learning outcome among students. The study revealed that 49.79 %, 54.35 % and 79.14 % of students of class-VIII passed the test in English, Maths and languages respectively. Uttar Pradesh was the worst-performing state in English assessment as 79% of its students could not meet the class appropriate learning standard followed by 71 % in Bihar. Similarly, 41.04 %, 48.72 % & 71.12 % passed the test in English, Maths & Language respectively in Class-V. And in Class-III, 56.58 % & 73.36% passed the test in Mathematics and languages. 

Our demands: "Mission-3-5-8"

• The government should take advantage of this lockdown period to initiate remedial classes for weaker students so that they are at par with the other students, once regular school starts.
• The government should issue directives to all stakeholders involved (SMCs, PRI, teachers, officers at the block & villages levels) to draw up a plan for remedial classes and instruct them to start work immediately.
• There should be availability of nutritional food during remedial classes such as fruits and cooked food items like a boiled egg, samosas, jalebis, kachori etc
• The government should do a primary survey of all the schools vis-a-vis basic infrastructure and work on improving them wherever required during this time. These small activities will also provide livelihood opportunities under MGNREGA in the rainy season, mitigating the economic hardships of some of the returning "Shramiks".
• The government can identify and share various online educational resources, alternate teaching modules with the teachers with a mandate to the teachers to study them and to use them to make the classes more fun and interactive for the students. 

Appeal

We are in need of at least 20,000 signatures to build pressure on the government and other stakeholders for immediate actions in this regard and your support will be crucial to ensure the education of the children of government schools who are waiting to learn from the last 4 months.

A signature from your end can help us strengthen our demand for a great cause. Therefore, we urge you to help us with one signature and share this petition so that it reaches more people.

Act now! Join our campaign to help millions of children receive remedial education by 15th August 2020. To know more about us please visit www.atmashaktitrust.com or if you want to be a part of our online campaign, please contact us at communications@atmashaktitrust.com.