Author: Kritika Verma

With the onset of the global pandemic, the education sector has been one of the worst-hit sectors of the Indian economy. Lack of public faith and digital infrastructure for the smooth functioning of an online teaching system and the inability to conduct online examinations amid lockdown is a clear indicator of the unsustainable education system of our country. The lower economic tier of the country is the worst hit from this problem. Let’s try to examine the sphere of education from the Indian perspective and how it has fared so far in these unforeseen events.

Indian Education System from an Infrastructural Standpoint

Presently, India has approximately 15.5 lakh schools, of which 70% are run by the Central and state governments. These institutions are providing education to almost 2.5 million students with a student-teacher ratio of approximately 35:1. Before the lockdown, a large percentage of the private and public-school teachers were still practicing the conventional chalk and board teaching methodology while a lot of schools weren’t even acquainted with the technology of Smart Classrooms.

Until March 2020, India had a multilayered education system with curriculum design varying with the affordability of resources leading to a wide disparity in the teaching techniques across the entire nation. While the states of Jharkhand, UP, Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh are still struggling with the low rates of student’s enrollments and absenteeism of teachers, states like Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka Rajasthan are moving ahead to strengthen the infrastructure of their education system.

Impact of lockdown on the education sector

The slow spread of COVID 19 into Indian infrastructure was followed by a nationwide lockdown that immediately put the Indian Education system into an unimaginable crisis. The Central Government issued orders to shut down all the schools and colleges pan India indefinitely, etching a big question mark on the future of academic progress in the country. This federal decision directly impacted 320 million students, the ones appearing for board exams being the worst hit. Considered as a pivotal examination for an Indian school student, class Xth, and class XIIth board exams are crucial in ascertaining the future academic prospects of students. In the wake of this pandemic, the central and several state boards couldn’t conclude their examinations completely, which led to an indefinite postponement.

Amidst this chaos, a dagger hovered over the higher education sector which accounts for the fate of approximately 37.4 million students studying across 993 universities which constitutes of 39,931 colleges and 10,725 stand-alone institutions. Meanwhile, the students preparing to appear for standardized competitive exams like JEE, NEET, CLAT, and UPSC are still waiting for a concrete decision regarding their regulation from the responsible authorities.

Immediate Redressal Policies by Educational Authorities

This dire situation demanded the implementation of certain strong and immediate measures by the responsible authorities in the education sector. The initial stages of the pandemic can be considered as a period full of uncertainty, where swift short-term policies need to be accommodated and executed perfectly. Here’s what various educational authorities pan India implemented during the initial stages of COVID-19 lockdown:

  • All schools across India were shut down with immediate effect, and no students at any age group were allowed to attend their classes physically.
  • Several state educations boards like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Haryana postponed the board exams while others like Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab cancelled the remaining examinations.
  • In a rare occurrence, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) postponed the examinations for classes Xth and XIIth till July 2020, which was further challenged by parents in the Supreme Court. Altogether, CBSE had to further act upon a strategy to cancel the remaining examinations and promote students in accordance with internal marks.
  • Moreover, a lot of schools across the nation promoted their primary and middle school students to the next standard solely on the basis of their class performance.
  • However, the concerned authorities were dubious about conducting semester-end examinations for UG and PG courses. The adamancy of authorities to conduct online examinations led to a conflict between reluctant students and authorities.

Education and COVID-19: Present and Probable Policies

The existing unpredictable circumstances have shifted the conventional classrooms to digitalized platforms revolutionizing the framework of the Indian education system. The state governments and educational boards have speculated and brought on some reforms in the existing education policies for the session of 2020-21, which look as follows:

  • Most of the public and private educational institutions have resumed their academic activities through viable digital solutions like Google Meet, Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom meetings to organize classes. The faculty has also resorted to creating workspaces like Google Classrooms and Cisco Teams to share the necessary resources with the students.
  • With the instructions from MHRD, CBSE syllabus for classes 9th-12th had been revised and reduced by a substantial 30%. Further, the schools are also asked to follow the Alternative Academic Calendar designed by the NCERT for elementary classes I-IV.
  • The Indian state governments have also issued strict circulars ensuring that fees payment doesn’t create an obstacle in online learning for any student.
  • Maharashtra State Government tied up with Google to provide free Google Suite services to 1.09 lakh government, private, aided and unaided schools in the Maharashtrian territory, benefitting its 22.035 million students.
  • Delhi government had also announced its “remote teaching-learning plan” which aims to dissolve the digital divide by encouraging schools to provide parents with SMS updates and providing subsidized data packs to students.
  • Exploring the medium of television to reach out to the remote areas, Uttar Pradesh state government went for broadcasting a 90-minute educational program on Doordarshan Uttar Pradesh. Digital initiatives like E-Pathshala were also launched by the state’s department for education which focused on optimal utilization of limited resources available to the students in the midst of a nationwide lockdown.

Recommended additions to the existing policies

With the digitalization of classes, the worst hit is the economically marginalized sections of the society for there exists a huge disparity in the distribution of resources in our country. According to a report by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) released in 2017-18, only 23.8% of Indian households have internet facilities with a division of 14.9% and 42% in the rural and urban backgrounds, respectively. The statewide non-uniform usage of internet aids in the lack of access to technology. NSSO’s report highlights that only 20.1% of the Indian population uses the internet and these figures vary vastly amongst different Indian states. This digital divide can keep the vast majority of students deprived of basic education.

  • Following the UP-state model, other education boards should try exploring televisions and radios as a huge asset which can aid in imparting digital education as they are widely used in remote areas.
  • Walking in the footsteps of the Maharashtrian government, more state governments should collate with conferencing apps like Zoom Pro, Google Suite, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Teams and provide free training to teachers along with assured technical assistance ensuring a smooth transition for teachers.
  • The respective state governments can also work on the provision of subsidized internet recharges and utilizing newspapers as educational journals.
  • There is a need to develop an intensive curriculum that focuses on the practical application of the concepts to build up a better learning experience for the students. Also, group discussions and activities should be encouraged to achieve the overall development of the student.
  • A dual structure for responsibility could be followed i.e., students of each class can be divided into teams of 3-4 wherein they can discuss their doubts, reach out to each other for notes, and can keep a check on timely submission of assignments. This structure can ease out communication and resource sharing for teachers while enabling them to keep a close observation on their students.
  • Easy availability of educational resources across various domains can also act as a good measure in these times. The government website can hold archives of question papers, e-NCERT books, and solved solutions along with standardized doubt solving AI broadening the scope of doubt clarification for students.

Conclusion

The administration’s quick response to this catastrophe is appreciable and can be looked upon as the baby steps to setting up groundwork to develop a better education delivery system. The launch of the New Education Policy 2020 brings a ray of hope for the development of a revolutionized Indian education system.

References

About the Author

Kritika is third year undergraduate pursuing Business Management from SSCBS, DU. Currently acting as an Associate Editor in TPC, she is passionate towards bringing an impact in social sector through policy level changes. She has immense experience in working at grassroot level and have co-founded a project integrating menstrual hygiene with SDG 12. A nature lover and a poetess by heart, she strongly believes in the need of holistic education in our country and aims to pursue a career in public policy.

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