School attendance low after reopening: 3 states to House panel

Schools continue to report low attendance after reopening, representatives of at least three states informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on education on Tuesday.

While schools in Assam are recording around 50% attendance, Uttar Pradesh’s figure stood at roughly 40%. Jammu and Kashmir too reported low attendance during the interaction.

Tuesday’s meeting was called to discuss “plans for bridging the learning gap caused due to school lockdown as well as review of online and offline instructions, examinations and plans for reopening schools”.

BJP Rajya Sabha member Vinay Sahasrabuddhe heads the committee on education. The meeting was attended by School Education Secretary Anita Karwal, CBSE chief, and education secretaries of Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Assam.

It was learnt that members of the parliamentary standing committee, during the meeting, expressed concerns over the learning loss that may have taken place due to the long absence of students from classrooms. To this, it is learnt, the Ministry of Education (MoE) informed the MPs that the government hasn’t yet mapped the extent of the learning loss.

School education officials are learnt to have informed committee members of the digital initiatives taken to continue learning during classroom lockdown and innovative measures adopted by different states to help students who lack access to online classes. The MoE also informed the committee that it is working on bridge courses to help students who may have slipped through the cracks during the classroom lockdown.

On school reopening and exams, the MoE said that the decision is left to the state’s discretion.