We have covered some stories on covid 19 and its impacts. The whole
world has been severely hit by this pandemic & it is not ended yet. Check
out the stories we have covered so far on this pandemic.
Here in this blog, we are going to see the role of Digital education in
rural India.
Since 2020, the world has been suffering from covid-19 and yet we
are not sure when it will be ended. Post 2nd wave, the 3rd
wave is expected, and research is underway to understand what will happen post
3rd wave. The lifestyle of human beings has changed, and it has been
impacted by covid adversely. The GDP of the whole world has shrunk, millions of
job loss and death. Hardly is there any industry or individual which is not
being impacted by this and the education industry among them.
Since last year, all the schools have been closed impacting child
education. Thanks to digital education which helps in the continuation of
education up to a certain extent but that is successful in the urban &
metro cities. Can we think of the same success rate in rural area? There is
hardly any reason to believe so. Imagine in an area where there is no ensured
electricity supply, there are little or less modern mediums of communication,
even families so financially distressed that they lack accessibility of food, Is
digital education really a feasible option? Let us not forget that digital
education needs decent internet coverage, a smartphone, and obviously enough
electrical supply to operate these devices.
There have been signs of progress in some villages, but the data is not
sufficient enough to say whether India can actually go ‘completely digital’ in
order to provide education to the impoverished and underprivileged children in
India.
A maximum of the financially distressed families is going to be further
entrapped in the vicious poverty cycle, merely because in these critical times,
the policymakers have failed to actually deliver education to their children. Read about
Effects during the pandemic
Rural education had been drastically affected due to the coronavirus
outbreak in both waves. There are numerous children who stand devoid of
education during these harsh times. The famous mid-day meal scheme also acted
as a huge boost to admission rates in rural schools and children received meals
along with education. This ensured that rural children won battles against two fronts- Hunger and Illiteracy. The pandemic, however, has reduced the delivery
rate of mid-day meals as well. Another issue is the lack of digital education
of teachers. Teachers, especially in rural and semi-urban areas, face
difficulties in instructing and teaching through the online medium. They also
face technical issues, which would rather have never subsisted, if not for the
online mode of education. These little interruptions accumulate to ultimately
become enormous hindrances, which further the accessibility divide between the
urban and rural children. Read about
Oxfam India, a non-governmental organization, surveyed 1158 parents and
488 teachers across five states- Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and
Uttar Pradesh. The survey findings yield the following facts.
✅ The survey displays 35% of children did not receive mid-day meals.
✅ 53% of children received dry rations and only 8% of children received
cooked meals.
✅ 84% of teachers reported facing problems while teaching through digital
mediums.
✅ Only 20% of teachers were given orientation and minimal training for
delivering online lectures.
✅ 80% of teachers in Uttar Pradesh and 67% of teachers in Chhattisgarh
lacked adequate devices for online classes.
✅ 75% of parents faced problems like costly data, unstable internet, and
lack of wi-fi services in order to accommodate online classes.
Clearly, these statistics show us how digital education in rural India is far away
from a mission accomplished.
Examining the roots
It is true that crises like Coronavirus are unpredictable. However, it
is also true that such crises put any nation’s existing infrastructure to test,
be it healthcare, education, distribution systems, communications, etc.
India performed decently well in the healthcare sector during the first
wave, considering demographics like population density, but the performance of
the education sector in rural areas has been a drastic failure. This is because
adequate steps had not been taken earlier to digitalize villages and towns,
perhaps digital education was not ever considered in villages. The crises
exposed this vulnerability of rural areas in reference to access to internet
resources, specifically educational resources. The numerous planned policies
without proper implementation on the ground level are as useless as a glass
hammer. Like many websites, portals, digital libraries may be developed, but
without a stable and speedy internet connection, and other basic requisites
like digital knowledge and electricity, they are useless.
This further showcases the importance of efficient and effective
infrastructure, or at least an improved infrastructure for rural areas, and
certain towns and semi-urban areas. Read about
Proposed Solutions
The aforementioned facts and arguments clearly indicate the slow and
ineffective growth of digital education in rural India. It has to be
acknowledged that certain parents and students even in the urban areas face
difficulties with online classes. There are numerous problems that have been
exposed during this time of the pandemic. The infrastructural growth is never
going to occur overnight, but there are immediate measures that can be done to
solve problems till the time the pandemic exists.
For instance, in areas where there are low infection rates, physical
schooling shall start adhering to proper covid-prevention protocols. The
students who are privileged enough shall be encouraged to donate their old
books, and the government shall play a part as an intermediary to ensure these
books reach the needy and underprivileged. These would ensure that the
immediate problem of lack of Digital resources is solved. The mid-day meal
scheme shall be revised and restarted as effectively and immediately as possible.
Schools, when reopened, shall be thoroughly disinfected, and sanitized in order
to create a safe environment. Washing sinks shall also be built at every place
possible in schools so that children develop the important habit of washing
hands during the pandemic.
In the long run, the government has to focus on
providing digital education in rural India. They have to take initiatives to
improve infrastructure, which helps the country in every time of crisis.
Teachers shall be given special workshops for several methods of digital
teaching. The government may even provide internet in villages at subsidized
rates, and further, develop adequate infrastructure to support the same.
Infrastructure in any country will always remain to be the mainspring of growth
and development of its people. Hence, developing rural infrastructure along
with effective policies shall pave the way for digital rural schools to become
an actual reality.
About Author
"Written by Moksh Bhatnagar, a first-year student at Unitedworld School of Law, Karnavati University.
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