The pandemic has left both parents and school managements reeling under an economic shock but focus must be on evolving a new pedagogy for children
One of the most serious concerns caused by the spread of Coronavirus, one that is being debated all across the globe, is when and how should schools reopen after the pandemic? Talk to any parent, their first reaction would be: We shall wait and watch. Some are not willing to send their children to schools even if they reopen in August/September. Mothers are more clearer. It is acceptable to them if their children lose an academic year. They don’t want to take the dreaded risk. In an article, published on May 13 by Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, the magnitude of the problem has been estimated.
“It has been around two months since schools closed in more than 190 countries, affecting 1.57 billion children and youth — 90 per cent of the world’s student population. Closures happened in quick succession as a measure to contain the COVID-19 virus. Just as speedily, governments deployed measures for learning to continue through platforms, television and radio in what has been the most far-reaching experiment in the history of education. But when it comes to reopening schools, the tempo is far more uncertain. According to UNESCO data, 100 countries have not yet announced a date for schools to reopen, 65 have plans for partial or full reopening, while 32 will end the academic year online. For 890 million students, however, the school calendar has never been so undefined.”
There are around 250 million school-going students in India. It is but natural for them and their parents to be worried, especially when Coronavirus cases are rising every day. The level of anxiety and uncertainty was evident in a recent study, conducted in 224 districts. According to the survey, nearly 37 per cent of the 18,000 parents covered in the survey felt that schools should reopen only if there are no new cases in the district and within its 20 km radius for 21 days. However, more than 20 per cent parents said schools should reopen only after the country has no new cases for three weeks, while 13 per cent felt that schools should remain shut till a vaccine is developed.
The Human Resource Development Ministry has made it clear that State Governments must decide upon the date of reopening schools and has asked them to take their own decisions. The Union Ministry will issue guidelines on sanitation, quarantine and physical distancing and other such relevant aspects. To sum this up, uncertainty looms large over the education sector. Yet, creative minds are working to find possible solutions to help combat disruptions in teaching-learning scenario.
The way digital learning has been adopted in a large number of schools indicates how swiftly the system has realised the complex nature of the problem at hand and is, hence, testing alternatives. However, making the switch to digital learning is not an easy task. There are many schools that are well-equipped on all counts. But there are also others that are perpetually deficient — even deprived — both in terms of infrastructure and professional support. In the last three decades, teacher vacancies have been a cause of considerable concern and have directly impacted the quality of learning. Owing to this, the credibility of the school, too, is impacted.
There’s yet another phenomenon that has been affecting schools, both in metro cities and small towns. The migration of labourers from the cities to their home States has posed several questions both to the workers and the system. This prominently includes children’s education. That school education would be affected was very much anticipated. It has been confirmed from various sources in different parts of the country that Government schools are being approached by parents of those children presently enrolled in high-fee-charging private schools, the English medium ones. With the Corona pandemic triggering an economic crisis, the lower and lower-middle rungs of the society have been badly affected. Even highly-educated people, who had admitted their children in private schools, have found themselves at the crossroads. Parents, who have been forced to meet their regular monetary demands by cutting on genuine family expenses, are in two minds. Many of them are no more in a position to pay the school fees even though it will not be hiked this year.
As a result, there would be a considerable exodus from these high-end schools to either private ones that target economically weaker sections or to Government ones. At present, there seems to be no way out to prevent this exodus. All of this is bound to create considerable ripples in the education industry, which is mostly run by private entrepreneurs. Schools in our country are broadly divided into two categories: First, those that are run on public funds — the sarkari schools. Second, those that are run by private entrepreneurs.
It is indeed intriguing that most parents are not happy with the way school education system functions. Those sending their wards to privately managed “public” schools are unhappy as they are persistently under pressure from the management to loosen their purse strings under one pretext or the other. Parents of children in sarkari schools lament their inability to put their wards in English medium “public” schools.
Managements in private schools, too, are a worried lot. They fear they may not get permission to implement their annual quota of fee raise. Their apprehensions, restlessness and anxiety are understandable. Recently, I was informed that an innovative entrepreneur decided to charge extra fee for “internet teaching and learning.” This tussle shall take varied dimensions in the months to come.
Instead of concentrating on how to deal with the tough situation thrust upon the education system, the focus must be on evolving a new pedagogy and teacher training strategies.
Private schools are more worried about the economics of how to sustain their incomes. Everyone knows the real situation but formally, India still insists that education enterprise is not for profit-making. Several school managements have informed me that they would like to earn an honest income on their investment, keep the records clean and pay taxes. They have a very strong case. A serious attitudinal transformation in policy formulation is necessary at this juncture.
The emerging school scenario and reference to the plight of workers returning to their villages remind me of what Swami Vivekananda had said in his letter to the Maharaja of Mysore on June 23, 1894: “The one thing that is at the root of all evils in India is the condition of the poor... The only service to be done for our lower classes is to give them education, develop their lost individuality.”
Whatever plans and programmes the Governments, Union and State, unfold henceforth, they must ensure good quality education to children from the weaker sections of society. Give them an opportunity and they will wade through every impediment and rediscover their individuality. The ideology of progress, growth and development must be woven around these two sectors.
India has realised just how important it is to not ignore its farmers, artisans and workers who make village life worth living. Now, we have to reach the stage that Gandhiji dreamt of in his autobiography after he read John Ruskin’s book, Unto This Last: “That the good of the individual is contained in the good of all. That a lawyer work has the same value as the barber’s, inasmuch as all have the same right of earning their livelihood from their work. That a life of labour, ie, the life of the tiller of the soil and the handicraftsman, is the life worth living.”
These lines were preceded by the reaffirmation of the age-old dictum, “The good of individual is contained in the good of all!” Gandhiji transformed his own life and wanted the last man in the line to be omnipresent in every new initiative by the statues and also by every individual.
Swami Vivekananda had said: “Material civilisation, nay, even luxury, is necessary to create work for the poor. Bread! Bread! I do not believe in a God, who cannot give me bread here, giving me eternal bliss in heaven!” The path of progress is cut out and well lit before us. It has to be comprehended in the context envisioned for the days ahead and put to practice with competence and commitment.
(The writer works in the education and social cohesion sector)
