By Seema Rajput, Senior Technical Specialist – Education, CARE India. (Southasiadisasters.net issue No. 199, April 2022)

COVID-19 has had cataclysmic changes across all sectors. The pandemic has significantly disrupted the education sector which is a critical determinant of a country’s economic future. The pandemic has affected 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries. In India, education of more than 260 million of school and preschool age children got affected since the lockdown. To mitigate the challenges on education of children posed by the pandemic, the Government at national and state level has taken several initiatives to ensure children receive appropriate support to continue their education and their mental and physical health needs are also met. In order to understand the impact of COVID-19 on education and well-being of children especially adolescent girls residing in the remote villages, CARE India conducted a survey in 5 states namely Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in June, 2020. The survey covered 1090 children, 1100 parents and 313 teachers in these states to study the 1) level of awareness on COVID-19 amongst respondents, 2) understand the impact of COVID-19 (and the lockdown) on children education and wellbeing especially issues related to safety, 3) identify the potential approach to ensure the continuation of children’s education (an online mechanism) and preparedness required, and 4) understand the approach or strategies that a school should adopt after re-opening. The data collection was undertaken telephonically by the CARE India project staff in their respective locations.

The survey findings revealed that both the children and parents expressed that learning/education has been affected due to the lockdown across the states. A whopping proportion of children (86.8%) mentioned that their learning/education has been affected while more than 2/3 (70.2%) of parents felt children’s education as a challenge during the lockdown. Additionally, (82.8%) of parents stated that they were worried about the loss of learning this year for their children due to school closure. In response to the educational support, which was being provided by the state government to children, 24.6% parents stated that they received materials (video and homework) shared through WhatsApp as a key approach used by schools. While 18.6% parents reported that they received educational materials / messages shared through Text messages. Only 6.5% parents said that their children are receiving education through TV and radio program hardly reached to them. To understand the extent of access to mobile phones by children, only 31.1 % of children said that they could access phones for their education. Therefore, digital mode to education needs to be supported through learning circle time, a fact to face interaction with children and other measures to complement educational support as for millions of children going digital is not the option for India. It also gives evidences that digital infrastructure divide exists at significant level for most marginalized communities and children that needs to be bridged through special efforts.

It is alarming to note that close to one third children (31.1%) indicated that they were disturbed due to change in parents’ behavior (scolded more often) during the lockdown. A higher proportion of male children reported a change in parents’ and their behavior as compared to female children. Further, more than half of the children (54.7%) reported a change in their own behavior (feel anxious / uncertain / threatened nowadays). Children in general have noticed more violence and disturbance in their family life.  It must be taken seriously and in a comprehensive manner by the system as children are anxious in general particularly about the future, their education, and many girls are also experiencing gender-based violence which was more often than compared to normal times. These incidents are neither reported or addressed upon, indicating that a significant percent of millions of children will be carrying the burden of COVID-19 in the form of trauma and emotional disturbance for a very long period of time.  Almost 83% of children were worried about the effect of COVID on their future education and academic session. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, it was heartening to note that 88% parents expressed willingness to send their children to schools, if schools follow safety and healthy standards and protocols. In this scenario, role of teachers become most crucial during and post pandemic in order to ensure children feel secure and able to make up for the lost time academically. Once the schools reopen, focus must be on providing socio- emotional support to children and building their resilience to cope better in challenging times. In this connect, nearly 50 percent teachers demanded the need of orientation on checking children’s wellbeing and augmenting their digital skills to participate in training and capacity building programs (45.2%) to support children’s education.

Recently released New Education Policy aims to develop resilience in learners as one of the most important qualities, the system would need to prepare itself for addressing the diverse learning needs of children including their mental well-being. The education officials at all levels would need a strong orientation to plan and implement education in emergency situations by ensuring that no one is left behind.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of AIDMI.