The news about the pandemic started to trickle in during the very first month of 2020, and by April, 190 countries had closed down their educational institutions to avoid the spread of the infection and to protect the young. UNICEF estimated that the closure of schools affected the learning of more than 1.6 billion learners around the world.
These were the early days of the pandemic and we were not sure whom the disease was affecting the most. India took a severe step of going for a complete lockdown as that seemed the most prudent course of action at that time.
Now, almost after a year of living through the pandemic, we can claim to understand it a little better. Data shows that children are the least affected. A meta-analysis released this month in the European Journal of Epidemiology states that the infection fatality rates (IFR) is as low as 0.002% for children at age 10 and 0.01% at age 25 as compared to 0.4% at age 55. Based on these learnings, many countries have begun to open their educational institutions.
The extended closure of educational institutions has had many ramifications. Among the most critical is the fact that there has been a serious disruption of learning. A paper by Brown and Virginia University scholars during the early days of the pandemic, estimated that the drop in learning among learners in the U.S. could be as high as a third of expected scores in reading and almost half of the expected level in Maths.
Access to resources
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the view that Education Technology [EdTech] should be used to mitigate this problem has gained traction around the world. However, evidence points out that not only is the access to technology severely limited, but also inadequate for accomplishing any good educational endeavour.
The severity and complexity of access to appropriate technology has also been severely under-estimated. UNICEF’s recently released report, ‘How many children and young people have internet access at home?’ estimates that 2.2 billion people below the age of 25 in this world do not have an internet connection.
EdTech has been touted as the solution without understanding the essential nature of education as a social process which happens best when children are directly connected with each other and the teacher. The digital mode is ineffective because of the basic character of education, and not merely because of lack of access to the net and online resources.
Educators would agree that education requires physical presence, attention, thought and emotions, all to be sewn towards learning goals, step-by step, often back-and-forth, and differently for each student. This requires verbal and non-verbal interactions which is possible only in actual classes.
Azim Premji Foundation conducted a study titled ‘Myths of Online Education’ in five States covering 1,522 schools to understand this issue in India. It reiterated poor access to online learning for many children, and revealed the ineffectiveness of online learning solutions, coupled with the professional frustration of teachers. Most teachers expressed the impossibility of maintaining an emotional connect with children in this mode and half the teachers participating in this study reported that children were unable to complete assignments shared during online classes, which in turn led to serious gaps in learning.
How Karnataka fared
Computers and laptops are required for optimum use of the digital mode in education. However, the NSSO 75th round provides us with the data which indicates that the availability of these resources in Karnataka is very poor. Overall, there are less than 20% with an internet connection and only around 10% of the households in the State which have reported to possess a computer.
Though data from NSSO and the education department survey varies, particularly on the availability of internet, it is very clear that the optimum resources required to provide distance education using digital resources does not exist in Karnataka. Hence, the government's initiative of a face-to-face engagement through Vidyagama is the best way forward.
The digital mode only exacerbates existing inequities and does not bridge gaps. Hence, as we come to the end of 2020, we are staring at the possibility of learning loss among all our children that could last a lifetime. As we prepare to begin the new year with renewed hope and optimism, planning for bridging the learning gaps assumes top priority.
(Rishikesh B.S., Associate Professor at Azim Premji University)
