New Delhi, January 30 (IANS): Schools have been closed for the longest time in Indian history due to the Covid-19 pandemic and as an impact of this, many students are now unable to recover from its psychological impact.
Recent reports have shown that school closures for such an extended period have a direct and serious impact on students’ ability to learn and mental health.
According to one report, only 8% of village children have access to online education, while in many places up to 37% of students have dropped out.
In fact, thousands of students have dropped out of school due to the repeated closures of their schools. Many of them lost their studies because the right infrastructure and resources for online education are out of reach.
The eminent welfare economist Jean Dreze, who closely followed the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic, in collaboration with several researchers, conducted an in-depth study on the online and offline learning of schoolchildren. The study, titled ‘Emergency Report on School Education’, found that only 8 per cent of school-age children in rural India have access to online education, while at least 37 per cent have access to online education. has completely abandoned.
Similarly, research conducted by Azim Premji University in five states found direct evidence of a drop in students’ ability to learn. Research has also revealed that children are falling behind in basic skills such as reading, comprehension or solving simple math problems, which is worrying.
A few months ago, considering the decline in active Covid cases, many states opened schools and allowed classroom teaching. But the sudden rebound for the Omicron variant forced the closure of the institutions again.
Now, however, education experts and the nation’s leading educators have asserted that frequent and sudden school closures can ruin students’ futures.
Vishnu Karthik, Director, Heritage Group of Schools, says: “The frequent closing and intermittent opening of schools has been a very disturbing experience for students and teachers. This has not only increased stress and dilemma for children, but which has also affected their socio-emotional side badly. We believe that, like many other countries, we must also keep schools open during this time. One of the biggest upheavals of the Covid period is the prolonged closure of schools and educational institutions. The age of vaccination should also be reduced so that students return to their schools to study again.
In the age of online education, there is no shortage of such students who are deprived of facilities like the Internet. The education of these students stopped, which also affected their general development.
Research findings have shown that due to school closures in the Covid-19 era, children’s ability to learn has decreased while their stress has increased. Simultaneously, their attachment to each other has also decreased.
Researchers have also suggested that many students have reported loneliness and psychological problems along with anxiety and depression. Therefore, it is of crucial importance to rethink the ways of dealing with the pandemic today.
Many world-class experts are in favor of reopening schools with strict security measures rather than total closure. At the same time, should the Covid positivity rate increase, the government has the option to close schools.
Commenting on the issue, Rohit Sen Bajaj, Principal at Pathways School, says: “It is easy to say that the virtual-hybrid-virtual cycle has become the ‘norm’, but the transition is not easy. Academic and social-emotional skills that children develop through interaction in school classrooms and hallways are not possible in a virtual classroom.”
Praveen Raju, co-chair of FICCI ARISE and founder of Suchitra Academy, is also in favor of reopening the school.
“Due to the prolonged school closure, the general education of the students has been severely affected and the gap between the affluent and non-affluent students has further increased. You can also imagine the reality of Indian education where most of students do not even have a digital device and therefore it is difficult to continue with online education India is one of the countries with the longest school closures and now the World Bank, UNESCO, domestic and foreign experts warn against the harmful long-term effects of closing schools,” he says.
Academics say that in this crisis, all stakeholders will need to strengthen security measures and, especially in states, where the positivity rate is low, the decision to close schools should be reconsidered.
