COVID19 and school education

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world in ways that we are only just beginning to understand, and many of those changes seem likely to continue for a long time to come. At no time in our history have human beings been as technologically advanced as we are today, nor more helpless in the face of this illness which spreads like wildfire and appears invincible.

Like so many others, the school sector is also re-examining long held beliefs and existing systems. The more fortunate and better provisioned schools are in the position of being able to move many of their teaching and learning activities online, using a variety of tools such as video conferencing, social media, and the internet, but such schools in our country represent a microscopic minority. The reality for those who attend other schools is often inadequate infrastructure, missing teachers, an incomplete education, and an inability of the system to adapt to even routine changes.

Several commentators have in recent days extolled the benefits of educational technology, including various online platforms, video classes, and the like, but their focus is clearly the privately managed, fee-charging schools beloved of the middle class. Even in these schools however, bandwidth limitations and equipment failures are likely to pose a challenge to uninterrupted delivery, while the efficacy of education in this form for younger children is yet to be established. It is also safe to say that such facilities are unlikely to be available to children who attend government schools, or even those who attend low-cost budget private schools, which provide an essential service to so many despite multiple regulatory hurdles.

Many state governments, such as Himachal Pradesh, have announced that they would record lessons on video and send them out to children in state schools using WhatsApp. Most of the methods under discussion however, seem to require internet-based solutions, which would at least call for the use of a smartphone. The reality is that too many children in our country have access to neither. Even if a few were able to make use of such lessons, there is no clarity if and how they would address those with special needs, such as children with visual or aural disabilities.

A significant challenge to any form of remote learning is the fact that too few children have learning support at home, since many may be first generation learners. The fallout of the ongoing pandemic has thus the potential to widen the already existing learning gap between educationally and socio-economically advantaged and disadvantaged students and communities. Those who were already marginalised run the risk of being further discriminated against, with gender, poverty, digital, and disability gaps set to grow exponentially. Additionally, a continued lockdown with a focus on remote learning raises questions of safety for many, given the risk of increasing frustration among adults at home and possible domestic violence.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, places on the government the responsibility for ensuring that all children receive elementary education as a matter of right. Over the last 20-25 years, the government has invested, among other things, in school infrastructure, teachers, professional development, curricular reform, and management improvements. But all of these were predicated on children physically attending a class, with a teacher to support them; suddenly, everything has changed. Our new circumstances do not dilute the responsibility of government to ensure the education of all children, but with schools shut and social distancing norms in place, new ways of reaching students will need to be found.

One immediate solution is the redeployment of mass media channels to carry age and grade appropriate lessons in a structured manner, something that India has substantial experience of earlier. Both Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) have been used for widespread dissemination of social messaging and learning, including for the National Literacy Mission. The use of television for education in India peaked between 2004-2010, when we were one of the few countries in the world to have a satellite (EduSat) dedicated exclusively to broadcasting educational TV content for students.

While Doordarshan reaches most parts of the country, the penetration of radio to the remotest areas in India has few equals anywhere in the world. The use of radio for education, particularly at times of crisis, is well known globally. International agencies and national governments have run radio-based education programmes in countries affected by crises all over the world, as for instance in Chad in 2017 when school education was impacted by Boko Haram terrorism. In India, we have a long history of learning programmes delivered by radio, by government as well as NGOs; one of the earliest examples was the school broadcast project of AIR of 1937 that operated in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai. Government began using radio for literacy programmes in 1956, while IGNOU has used it for university students since the early nineties.

The Gyan Vani FM channel, which briefly went off air, was restarted in 2017 and is currently being used by IGNOU from 8 am to 8 pm daily to provide lessons to students, who can phone in with any questions they might have. However, Gyan Vani only reaches a limited number of locations, being an FM channel. What we need is to explore ways by which the reach of Gyan Vani can be expanded to cover more parts of the country using the AIR network, providing content that is relevant to school children as well as those at higher levels. At a time when physical attendance in school is a challenge, both TV and radio can play a critical role in ensuring that learning does not suffer.

Some states and examination boards have announced that they will automatically promote all students in grades 1 to 8 this year which means that there will be no formal assessment of learning. Given that there were already concerns around the relatively low levels of learning in the country despite the many interventions that have taken place over the years, this step, while unavoidable in the present circumstances, is likely to have an impact on student progress in succeeding years. We will have to consider how best to address this situation in the form of remedial measures when the next academic session begins, as well as simple methods of quick formative assessment, aimed at supporting the learning process.

We also need to start planning for the reality that school education for many children is likely to be interrupted, at least in the short run, no matter what strategies are used in the interim. To ensure children do not lose time for no fault of their own, we might wish to consider accelerated learning programmes, as have been used successfully in other crisis-hit countries, allowing students to combine and complete two or possibly three school years in a shorter time frame so that they can complete the relevant educational stage on time. This will require planning for associated reviews of the curriculum and its compression, and teacher and leadership training for implementation.

It is important though, to remember that these are all short-term solutions. In the long run, no matter what strategy is adopted, the quality of remote learning can never compare well with regular schooling. Some skills, like teamwork and character building, can only take place when there is an opportunity to work in collaboration with other students and teachers in a physical school setting. Most importantly, schools remain institutions of socialisation for the young, something that cannot be imparted remotely through radio or TV programmes. Unless we wish to see a very different society in future, we will need to find ways to make schools functional again.

This pandemic is in many ways an opportunity to reimagine how school education is delivered, not only in India, but also worldwide. Even after the lockdown restrictions are lifted, it seems likely that the nature of teaching and learning will change significantly. How we handle these changes over the next few months, and how we creatively find solutions to allow schools to reopen, will determine the future we leave to our children.