Discussion on access to school education and reforms needed in COVID pandemic,

1. CHALLENGES AND REFORM
NEEDED TO ACCESS
EDUCATION IN COVID
SITUATION
DR. DAISY DHARMARAJ M.D.
FOUNDER TRUSTEE
GREEN VALLEY EDUCATIONAL TRUST

2. INTRODUCTION
One of the beautifully articulated goals of education is “to
make teaching and learning exciting and enjoyable, support
and challenge every child to achieve at the highest possible
level and create a safe and secure environment where every
child is happy, valued and prepared to make a positive
contribution to our rapidly changing society”
SARs-COVID19 Pandemic due to Corona virus has been
totally unpredictable and difficult to contain. Today it is a
grim situation globally bringing everything to a grinding halt.

3. Questions that arise in our mind are
• How long will this pandemic last?
• Will this turn out to be an endemic disease?
• Is this a short term problem? Or is it a long term change
requiring a paradigm shift?
• Are more pandemics likely?
• What happens to the safety and education of children?

4. REFLECTIONS FROM
AROUND THE GLOBE
The challenge is too large for any education system to respond effectively.
The immediate response was to close down all educational institutions. This
led to online classes largely by the private players
School closures placed unprecedented challenges on governments,
teachers, students, and parents aiming to ensure learning continuity,
Overall, about 40% of low and lower-middle-income countries have not
supported learners at risk of exclusion such as those living in remote areas,
the poor, girl children linguistic minorities and learners with disabilities,
By increasing social isolation, the pandemic also increased the risk of
marginalized students disengaging further from education and leaving
school early
And India has followed suit
https://www.ndtv.com/education/education-strategies-adopted-during-covid-
19-are-not-inclusive-unesco-report

5. LONG TERM CHALLENGES
PRESENTLY DISCUSSED
the logistics of
I Future Physical functioning of the schools- safety/ social
distancing/ protective actions/ identifying and isolation of
those who likely infected. These are fraught with a huge
number of challenges.
II Distance education. use of popular media like the TV, radio,
community radio etc. and digital education

6. WHILE THE WHOLE WORLD IS
DEBATING ON THESE ISSUES, AND
SOLUTIONS ARE DRAWN UPON
BASED ON POLITICAL WILL,
DEMANDS BY THE CITIZENS, AND
GLOBAL AND NATIONAL WISDOM,
LET US REFLECT ON THE ACCESS
TO QUALITY EDUCATION BY THE
MASSES.

7. WHO IS HANDLING
EDUCATION IN INDIA NOW
Central Government/
State Governments/
National open school
NIOS
Private- aided schools
Autonomous schools
Private schools
Home schooling
Maktabs(816) and
Madrasas (3,879)
65% of student population
Very few
India has nearly 400,000 unaided
private schools, with more than 7.9
crore students enrolled.
Very few
limited

8. Education reform is the goal of changing public education in terms of educational
theory and practice and an Educational Policy and reforms are essential elements
of a country’s progress.
schools in India are fully compliant with RTE norms on
infrastructure and teacher availability
9.54%
94%
Enrollment of Students of
Forward Caste
Other religious groups
Dalits
Adivasis,
.
96%
83%,
77%,
76%,
Desai et al (2010),
class 8 children who cannot read beyond class 2 level
material
class 8 children able to solve basic arithmetic
73%
44% (ASER2018

9. WHAT DOES EDUCATION
MEAN FOR A GIRL CHILD IN
COVID SITUATION?
Every prevailing problem is exacerbated in most cultures
Time availability to access classes- sharing household
duties, caring for the elders, sick parents or siblings,
babysitting
Low priority to communication gadgets
Physical mental and sexual abuse
Early marriage, underfeeding, needs ignored

10. INCLINATION TOWARDS
PRIVATIZATION
a warning of the inevitable high rate of drop outs especially the girls
the state’s withdrawal,
proliferation of the purely private sector or of self-financing programs,
removal of aided college identity,
creation of private universities,
deregulation of public-funded institutions through policy neglect, the
further strengthening of the private educational management,
deregulation of checks and balances,
market control of universities and paving the way for the entry of
foreign finance capital into the sphere of higher education.
state’s inability to spend 6% of India’s GDP on education, as
recommended by the Kothari Commission, has led them to invite
private players in education.

11. ACCESS TO LEARNING
OPPORTUNITIES
The onus rests mainly with Public education system
Government school students face a huge gap in access to
• high-quality learning content and digital infrastructure.
• High number of teacher vacancies
• poor quality of teacher training, and
• heterogeneous learning levels of students

12. SUPPORT NEEDED FOR
TEACHERS
Upskilling in areas like
1. instructional design,
2. research, and ICT tools
3. strengthening training modules, and
4. modes of delivery and assessment
5. curate relevant content,
6. promote student engagement,
7. provide customized support.
8. gauge student attention,
9. ensure participation, and
10. evaluate mastery.

13. KERALA MODEL KITE (KERALA
INFRASTRUCTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
FOR EDUCATION)
KITE is based on the ideals of equity and justice, where all
students have equal access to school education through a
government run program. It is meant to overcome the short
term challenges to education posed by COVID19 but could
emerge as a lead to long term solutions.

14. "We have entrusted the class teachers and school headmasters or principals to make sure
that students have access to a television or a smartphone or a computer, and internet for the
classes.
If not, they should find alternatives including television or internet facilities of neighbours,
friends living nearby, libraries or Akshaya centres.
All the classes will be in a downloadable format and can be compiled together and shown to
those who have missed the class later.
The sessions on TV channel will be available simultaneously on the KITE website, mobile app,
and social media pages.
The department said in the first week, the classes will be telecast on a trial basis and these
will be repeated in the second week.
The modules for different classes will be prepared by agencies under the General Education
Department such as the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), KITE,
Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK), and the State Institute of Educational Technology
(KITE) to provide IT training to about 81,000 primary teachers through focused intervention
https://yourstory.com/socialstory/2020/03/coronavirus-kerala-teachers-training

15. CONCLUSION
Evidence-based education guides reform, where scientific studies point to
the methods that are most effective
The quality of schooling available to low-income students is lower than that
available to higher-income students; however, because the counterfactual
(the quality of instruction they would receive in the absence of school) is so
much worse for children. The quality of education available to marginalized
groups across the country has to be in tune with equity, justice, and meeting
the educational and quality rights of these communities.
Education can be an indirect and long - term measure to reduce poverty and
promote sustainability. Effective educational programs at primary,
Secondary and Tertiary level will lead to human capital formation. This
human capital will be trained, skilled and productive with knowledge
improving the National economy towards.
The Civil society has to act now while the educational elite groups are
discussing mainly digital learning and the corporate sector is eagerly
looking to capture the market fishing in troubled waters.