By cutting off or limiting access to education, the pandemic has worsened existing inequalities and hampered the economic growth of poor families
Nearly 10 months after the nationwide lockdown began, India is now in the process of reopening its schools, albeit, in a phased manner, with all COVID protocols in place. However, most States that have decided to reopen schools are only allowing grade 10 and 12 students to attend classes. The younger children are still confined to their homes and online classes will continue till it is deemed fit to open all schools fully, from nursery to grade 12.
It is a sad fact that many children from vulnerable communities in India depend on schools for one square meal a day. The Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme was the reason many went to school. The closure of schools hit underprivileged children the most, because not only were they hungry, they did not have a smartphone, laptop or internet connection to continue their education online, unlike their privileged counterparts.
According to a study by Oxfam India, as many as 80 per cent of Indian students were unable to access online schooling during the lockdown and many might not even return to classrooms when they eventually reopen for everyone.
Many of these children were the first in their family to attend school and get an education. Their parents and grandparents never got a chance to do so because of various socio-economic reasons. By cutting off or limiting access to education, the pandemic has effectively worsened existing inequalities and hampered the economic growth of low-income families. In a country where over half the population is below the age of 25, lack of access to education is a deterrent which will prevent children from becoming contributing and productive members of society.
Government data suggest that despite having 600 million internet users, only 20 per cent know how to leverage the same. If one glances through the latest National Family Health Survey (NHFS), over 60 per cent women in 12 States and Union Territories have never used the internet, which begs the question: How will their children study online? The absence of digital literacy programmes in the country is a glaring gap, which came to the forefront once the schools shut down and education went online. According to a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India survey, Bihar — a State where child trafficking for sex and cheap labour is rampant — has the lowest number of internet subscribers in the country with just 32 people in every 100 having access to it.
Yes, the lockdown was announced to curb the spread of a highly contagious virus. But even as India began to “unlock” in phases, schools continued to remain shut. Earlier, daily wage earners, who were working in the informal sector, with no social security went to work knowing that their children were safe at school. Now, because of the pandemic, their children accompany them to work sites. They are picking up the trade. They are struggling like their parents and their chance to build a different life is being snatched away from them. In addition to this, their parents no longer have steady jobs. Hence, they are struggling to make ends meet, are no longer being paid and are having to resort to borrowing funds from moneylenders, friends and other family members.
Several organisations which are working against child labour have reported that moneylenders are charging alarmingly high interest rates. They also report that several people are having to borrow money for their daily needs such as food and water. A lot of these people are extremely poor and are suffering from some form of debt bondage. They are mostly Dalits, who have spent the majority of their lives in servitude and salvery.
They often borrow money but are unable to pay the same back and, therefore, have to “work off” the debts. Often this means that their child is also put to work. Take the example of 12-year-old Rahul from Gaya, Bihar, who has been completely deprived of any learning opportunity in his village since the pandemic began. As a result of the same, he has fallen into the trap of child trafficking. Before the pandemic began, his father, under duress, gave consent to a trafficker, because of which Rahul was employed in a bangle factory in Jaipur. He was lucky enough to have been rescued (in Jaipur) before being taken to the factory. He and 29 other minors from the same district were rescued from a luxury bus that was engaged in transporting children all the way from Gaya to Jaipur. All the 30-odd students were enrolled in different schools and were regular with their classes before the lockdown was imposed. Now they remain unoccupied, bored and vulnerable to predatory traffickers.
The United Nations’ policy brief on the impact of COVID-19 on the world’s education system points to the fact that the closure of schools and other learning spaces has impacted up to 99 per cent of students in low and middle-income countries. It warns that the effects on child labour and trafficking could be enormous. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), 152 million minors worldwide are involved in child labour, of which 73 million are involved in slavery, bonded labour, dangerous work and sexual exploitation. It is feared that in poorer countries, many children will completely lose their connection to education and will not return to school at all, as they have to contribute to their family income. They have started believing that their family can no longer afford to educate them and most of the time this is true. India has the highest number of child labourers. According to the Census 2011, there are 10.13 million child workers. The ILO’s 2016 data indicates that there are 23.8 million child labourers in India. Schools and programmes for children, such as protection centres or youth clubs, are also currently failing in their function as early warning systems. The pandemic has effectively hidden from sight occurrences of domestic violence in families as well as attempts by local child traffickers or moneylenders to recruit children as workers. The focus must now be to ensure the safety of students and teachers. All stakeholders must put in place protocols for reopening of schools even for the younger children. There has to be an extensive assessment on the learning loss and a well thought out plan to bridge the gap and schemes to retain students. The Government will also have to arrange for funds required to equip both schools and students in rural India to continue their learning journey.
(The writer is Executive Director, Center DIRECT, Human Liberty Network. The views expressed are personal.)
