Education in the time of COVID (and beyond!)
Perhaps no other event in Independent India (rather, the world post the world wars) has shaken the foundation of the world as has been done by the Covid-19 global pandemic. Before one could even gather some semblance of what had attacked us, schools were shut, migrants were on the roads and the citizenry of the world’s biggest democracy locked inside households. The word lockdown became an event which people waited with bated breath wondering what they could do and more importantly not do. Truly, the situation in the whole nation could be aptly summarized in one viral hashtag #StayHomeStaySafe.
The entirety of the education sector across the world has like all other things not been spared by this invisible enemy either. In India, major examinations and new session admissions country-wide take place from February to April which automatically had to be put on hold thereby casting clouds of uncertainty over the futures of millions of children, especially those in 10th and 12th grade, and were going to appear for important entrance examinations. With close to 1.3 billion learners across the world adversely impacted by the pandemic- educators, policymakers, bureaucrats and politicians alike were scrambling for solutions to engage them and to do damage control.
This disruption in the delivery of education is pushing policymakers to figure out how to drive engagement at scale while ensuring inclusive e-learning solutions and tackling the digital divide. The situation in India seems potentially worse especially for learners enrolled in rural areas, low-income households and government schools.
Given the situation at hand, the challenges to be overcome are daunting especially for learners at the margins. This is not to say that the private education sector has to face any less, but more pressure and challenges will be experienced by the government education sector due to scarcity of resources, complex on-ground situations and just the sheer scale of affairs which has to be managed.
There have been a lot of conversations (now webinars), debates and experiments done at district, state and national level to figure out and possibly transform the traditional methods of education delivery across the country. With a grave crisis, comes an equally great opportunity and I believe, this is our time to capitalize on the opportunities that this pandemic has inadvertently created for the education sector. Particularly helpful in arriving at these insights has been my experience as the Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associate (CMGGA) in Hisar district of Haryana. This has been a turning point in improving my understanding of the dynamics of the education sector. Working with the Deputy Commissioner and district-level education officials in implementing the Flagship State Education programme of Saksham Haryana and now ‘Ghar se Padhao’ campaign in the Covid-19 era has exposed me to the reality of government school education in Haryana and helped me understand both the underlying challenges and opportunities that exist in this vast domain.
- Bridging the digital divide and reducing the education inequality
Using EdTech solutions to improve education outcomes is nothing new and they’ve been around for a while. But perhaps, there is no better opportunity than now for these solutions to really take off. While these solutions may possibly be the best drivers of change in these unprecedented times, they also come along with the risk of potentially widening education inequality. With most classrooms taking place over Zoom and Google Hangouts, there is a substantial section of the society which has no access to televisions, smartphones, an internet connection or more importantly even, MONEY to recharge phones to equip them with adequate data plans. Efforts need to be made to address these challenges before drowning oneself and the student community with existing and upcoming EdTech solutions. Perhaps, Panchayats and local governments and even Civil Society Organisations/Non-Profits/For-Profits can come forward to ensure that access driven solutions are available first. A beautiful example that I came across of such solutions was a crowdfunding exercise done in one of the villages in Jharkhand where anyone could come forward and recharge phones of parents in rural areas (The list was floated by one of the school headmasters in the village) with mobile data packs so that students could access online classes on their phones.
2. Localised community-driven solutions for a global problem
There is an overwhelming need for solutions to be feasible, easily implementable and effective. The sheer diversity and complexity of rural and urban landscapes and social backgrounds make it impossible to have a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Solutions need to be customized to local needs and yet be capable of driving impact at scale. More importantly, there is a need for ‘community-driven approaches and solutions’ especially for low-income, rural households where parents for a variety of reasons (for instance, parents involved in agriculture, daily wage activities) are not available to engage children at homes. One cannot possibly expect parents who are labourers(migrant workers), daily wagers and field workers to educate their children at home when that time can be spent to earn two square meals for themselves and their families. Perhaps, Panchayats, School Management Committees (SMCs), local NGOs can drive community-driven solutions in such cases. In Hisar itself, I found classes happening in fields following social distancing protocols, teachers going door to door to check student notebooks and Panchayat loudspeakers being used to communicate messages to students and a group of students accessing televisions and smartphones together. These locally driven solutions can effectively tackle challenges of the digital divide and access while simultaneously mobilizing communities to take care of their children where and when parents cannot.
3. Availability of contextualized content (both online and offline)
It is easiest to engage with things one can relate to. At a time, when distractions are immense and there are no teachers in a classroom of 30–40 odd students in an institutionalized setting to maintain discipline, disengagement can be an obvious consequence. Therefore, much like activity-based learning (ABL) which keeps engagement levels high- relatable, context-specific content will also help in engaging students. Children belonging to tribal communities may benefit more from content which makes them more aware of local heroes than stories of distantly placed characters and settings they are not familiar with. This might be a specific example but the larger idea here is to have content to which children can relate to which in turn drives engagement and improves overall outcomes. At a time, where significant energies are spent in creating and curating content, educators and content-makers can channelize their focus on creating relatable and more engaging content. This is a great opportunity for us to revise outdated syllabi, generate more dynamic content which serves the needs and aspirations of students all across the country.
4. Streamlining existing content especially on emerging popular mediums like Whatsapp
Whatsapp (or Whatsapp University), which is increasingly becoming the preferred medium of content dissemination, communication of important information as well as the common platform for bringing all teachers, parents and students together, suffers from the inherent risk of being inundated with messages which can prove to be counterproductive and thereby defeating the very purpose for which it was chosen to be the preferred medium of dissemination. The number of groups that one is a member of needs to be limited so that important information does not get lost. In Hisar alone, over 2500 teachers and mentors have Junior Basic Training (JBT), Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT), Postgraduate Teacher (PGT) and multiple other cadre groups where information relevant to these groups is sent daily. Often, these groups have as many as 200–500 messages daily which makes it difficult for teachers to keep track of important messages. Content shared needs to be short and effectively presented in bite-sized capsules for better absorption, assimilation and engagement.
5. Generation of insightful data and having KPIs
Now, more than ever, there is a compelling need to have insightful data or KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) measuring outcomes. Be it measuring the engagement of learners on online apps/portals/platforms and even SMSes, assessing student performance or identifying most vulnerable classes, communities or areas impacted by nationwide school closure, data needs to be generated and be made available which can further translate into effective policies and solutions driving change. An excellent driver of this would be DIET (District Institute for Education and Training) which is present in each and every district of the country and can effectively conduct action research studies to diagnose local level problems and come up with locally relevant solutions.
6. Funding and Investments in the Education sector
India spent 3% of its total GDP on education in 2018–19 or about 5.6 lakh crore according to the Economic Survey which is far behind countries like Norway and the USA which have spent more than 6% of their total GDP on education in the same time period. As per the World Talent Report released by IMD, India ranks 62nd in total public expenditure on education per student and measures of the quality of education (pupil-teacher ratio) in primary and in secondary education. Funding and investments in the education sector are the need of the hour. We need to think beyond the pandemic and instead use this crisis as an opportunity to bring about the much-needed changes that were anyway long due. Leveraging the current sentiment of investing time, resources and money in EdTech and the education sector, we can use this favourably to update and strengthen the infrastructure and resources on the overall. Funding can be used across multiple workstreams such as the structured capacity building of teachers and even students through online classes/mobile applications, content creation and even be encouraged to move beyond these to truly transform the mode of education delivery and increase its access to ensure last-mile connectivity thereby closing gaps in education inequality. This is a great time to reflect and think about all that has not been done and can be done now. In my experience as a CMGGA, I have seen students sit on floors through harsh summers and biting winters and the least we can do is to provide students with the classroom experience that they deserve irrespective of their social backgrounds.
‘Dil Da Maamla’
To conclude, a multi-pronged strategy addressing not just the pandemic at hand but much beyond this needs to be developed to manage the crisis and to make the Indian Education System more resilient, robust and accessible to all. It is estimated that by 2024, greater than 50% households in rural areas will have internet connectivity in some way or the other which can be key in devising inclusive solutions reaching even the remotest of locations. (as of now, there is an average penetration of about 25% in rural areas). In this time and for times to come when app-based teaching might prove to be the new norm, maintaining quality and developing quality assurance mechanisms is crucial in ensuring that students are learning effectively and achieving grade-level competency (it simply means that a child knows the prescribed syllabus of that particular class/standard). Well rounded, holistic educational practices need to be the convention to nurture young minds who are the future and backbone of this nation. We need to remember that EdTech is a facilitator and not the ultimate solution and therefore, a teacher still holds the key to a child’s mind and heart. In the words of Hisar’s District Education Officer (DEO), ‘Padhai toh dil da maamla hai’. The teacher-student relationship is sacrosanct which needs to be provided with strong institutional support and adequate resources for it to grow and flourish and enthuse young minds with curiosity, eagerness and a thirst to learn, grow and evolve.
