DIGITAL EDUCATION: STILL A DISTANT DREAM FOR MANY?

 

The Coronavirus pandemic has severely affected the traditional brick and mortar education in schools and colleges across the globe. India is no exception. It has led to an exponential growth of digital education throughout the country. Everywhere, the teachers are recording their lectures and uploading of social media platforms like YouTube and sharing links on WhatsApp groups or teaching via various mobile applications.

However, are Indians parents equipped with proper infrastructure to facilitate digital education for their children? Or will the students from rural and urban India gain equal access to online education?  The students in metropolitan cities clearly have an advantage of better infrastructure and long conducive learning hours for online education. The parents are in a better position to facilitate their children with digital learning mediums.

But in rural India, the digital education remains a distant dream for many. Recently, the CHILDLINE 1098 team in Haryana, Mewat district rescued a child working on a construction site. Upon counseling the child revealed that his school is conducting classes online, to which neither he nor anyone in his family owns a smartphone.  In order to buy a smartphone and study better in the future the child was working at the construction site. The child was presented before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) who handed over the child to his parents after the due diligence process. After few weeks, CHILDLINE visited the child’s place. The child, a student of 8^th Std., was at home and studying. This case is a true reflection of the ground reality of the digital education in India.

On further discussion with principals of Govt. and private schools regarding online classes, it was revealed that, in Govt. schools, teachers have formed WhatsApp groups to provide online education to students. However, it has been observed that only a handful of students have benefitted from this education opportunity. Nearly, 70 percent of the students are unable to access online education. In private schools only 50 percent of the children are able to access online education. This is mainly due to the lack of infrastructure or internet connectivity.

In some cases, only one parent has a smartphone which they take to work and children have to wait till that parent returns home. In households with only one smartphone, gender disparity is hugely prevalent. The male child is given priority over the female child to access the smartphone. The stakeholders from the education department are trying to provide education to all the children during the lockdown however due to lack of infrastructure; many children are unable to access the learning mediums.

The local Sarpanchs and village heads can play a great role in facilitating digital education for children. They can help set up proper Wi-Fi system and help children with smartphones or computers in the common spaces for children. Organizations like CHILDLINE 1098 can work as a catalyst and help identify resource organizations to facilitate digital education so that no child will have to engage in child labour for online education.