Hardly any discussion about children's education

- Seriously affected by corona

- Due to the closure of schools, there has been a huge loss of education. This loss is very big for poor children

- No action has been taken regarding the education lost by the children and its treatment

Covid-19 was or is an unprecedented epidemic over which there was little human or government control. No government can be blamed for the outbreak of the virus, but measures to prevent it, including its spread in that country, the number of infections and deaths, vaccination programs, and assistance to citizens.

There are some government failures that are not visible

India ranks somewhere in the middle in terms of rankings when it comes to controlling the virus. India has been weak in recovering from the spread of the virus but has recovered. Irresponsibility of the people has also been blamed for the increase in the number of corona patients. The death toll is much lower than the fact. But in the last three weeks, it seems to have gained momentum and has been largely ignored by the government as far as relief to the poor is concerned.

All these things can be measured in terms of statistics or money. There are many things in which the government has failed, but it is not visible to us, it is the education of the children.

Urban families have learned that it was challenging to keep children at home for long periods of time, while rural families had to let the children play in the village streets and fields after a few months. Every family was worried about getting sick. In the first wave of Corona, they were worried about the consequences of not sending their children to school, but when the weeks, months and months began to change, and the second year, it was time to keep the children away from school.

A drastic price had to be paid

The concern of families that their children are being deprived of education has come true. The data shows that schools have been forced to close for 18 consecutive months.

The Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2020 Wave 1 was released on February 1, 2021. It covered the lack of education among rural children (which was noted in ASER 2018) and examined the impact when schools were closed due to lockdowns. After reviewing parental education data, availability of smartphones and ability to access books and learning materials, the report concluded as follows.

- Overall only 35% of the children received some material from their school.

-72 percent of children received teaching materials only through WhatsApp. The majority (55%) of children do not have smartphones.

-There has been a huge loss of education due to the closure of schools. This loss is very big for poor children. Increase the learning gap between rich and poor children.

-When schools reopen, every child will need a few treatments.

Therapeutic education

The survey conducted in 24 rural districts of Karnataka, which found an estimate of basic skills in children - reading and arithmetic - found the findings disappointing. Karnataka is considered as one of the best states in the country in terms of school education.

- Between 2018 and 2020, there has been a significant decline in basic skills.

- The percentage of children who could read a standard two book out of 46 per cent children in standard five in 2018 dropped to 33.60 in 2020.

-Thus, in 2018, 34.50 per cent of fifth standard children could subtract and 20.50 per cent could divide. This percentage fell to 32.10 per cent and 12.10 per cent in 2020.

Another survey conducted by 1362 families in 15 states found that only eight per cent of children in rural India could get online education while 37 per cent had stopped studying.

There is a lot of discussion going on about the availability of beds, oxygen, ventilators, medicines, ambulances in hospitals. The courts have had to instruct the government to do more. Many governments have woken up and done a lot. However, there has been hardly any fuss or discussion about education. No action has been taken regarding the education lost by the children and its treatment.

The government has launched the National Digital Architecture Program with the aim of eliminating inequality in education by ignoring the current crisis. The Prime Minister not only wants to make our education system globally competitive but also wants the youth of India to be ready for the future. This is a good intention and the intention is also excellent. But shouldn't there be efforts to get our children to read and count first?

There is an urgent need for remedial education. Teachers should be encouraged to work longer hours and continue to provide support to children to address shortcomings in education. The cost of providing schooling to every child is not so great. The golden dream shown by the Prime Minister can be waited for, but the government has to make sure that everyone is served dal and vegetables on their plate.