Article 21A of the Constitution of India guarantees us the right to free and compulsory education. This right is denied because education in the current school model is not free or compulsory. On the contrary, it is expensive and unaffordable for many, and thus inherently optional.
India has had one of the longest school closures in the world. Students have suffered tremendously and are deprived of a social environment, learning, daily meals, well-being, mental and physical health, among many other attributes of physical education, for over 82 weeks straight!
It has been reiterated by leading international and Indian medical institutions and renowned doctors that vaccination should not be a precondition for the reopening of schools. Students are starting to think and the general perception is that the government simply doesn’t want to get involved because of the so-called risk. However, they are willing to take the same, if not greater, risk by reopening other public places such as shopping malls, restaurants, hotels and so on.
Ironically, children are allowed to go to malls, movie theaters and other public places, but are also banned from schools, which are hybrid and with parental and guardian consent.
On the basis of the new reopening guidelines, the decision to reopen schools has been left entirely to the States. You would assume this is because each state has a different COVID-19 ground situation. However, should there not be a common framework and prescribed guidelines that are uniform for all states to reopen schools, specifying factors such as what the positivity rate should be for schools to reopen, what percentage of students should be allowed to attend school and when, and whether would it be hybrid/offline etc? It is imperative that the national government formulate fixed guidelines so that states cannot avert their responsibility towards their students.
Attending online classes comes at a high cost to part of the students’ families. From purchasing computers, laptops and mobile phones to purchasing a fixed internet connection or data package. According to the World Bank, India’s per capita income is $1927/year. That is roughly equivalent to Rs 1,43,384 per year and Rs 11,916 per month. Incurring the above expenses would take away income from the average working Indian parent for at least a month. This is why a November 2021 Azim Premji Foundation survey found that nearly 60 percent of school children in India do not have access to online learning opportunities.
In another national sample survey by ICRIER and LIRNEAsia, a digital policy think tank, only 20 percent of school-aged children in India had access to distance education during the pandemic, only half of whom participated in live online classes.
Even those who were fortunate and privileged to attend online classes felt shy and uncomfortable asking questions and speaking out in classes, especially with teachers and peers they didn’t know. This hindered growth and learning in a significant way. They were unable to meet friends and participate in school activities that inevitably also needed to develop interpersonal skills. The psychological effect has been enormous, leading to psychological problems such as depression and social isolation among students.
The inability of students to attend classes and understand concepts led to a lack of preparation for exams, both online and offline. The Central Council for Secondary Education recently took the exams of class 10 and 12. Aside from the fact that a new scheme was introduced during the pandemic that significantly increased the burden on the students, in the long run the way these exams were administered was questionable to say the least.
It was clear that the board was insufficiently prepared and incompetent to conduct these exams. There were irregularities in the questionnaires, officially released grading schedules and crucial rules were also changed during exams. How can the Council or Government expect students to take offline exams since they have not reopened schools for offline classes? Not everyone has access to online education, and those who do best receive education, purely in the form of a stopgap and ad hoc arrangement. These are essentials that should be carefully considered and considered before holding the upcoming CBSE Class X and XII Term 2 exams.
We must remember that schools should be the last to close and the first to reopen, against the backdrop of the pandemic.
— The writer is a class 12 student from New Delhi.
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