Covid-19: Teachers, students scramble to cover lost ground

Standing with his arms crossed at a construction site, 12-year-old Gavi looks straight ahead, as he recites, “four four za sixteen, four five za twenty,” and pauses. His mother Geetha, a migrant labourer in Bengaluru looks on, concerned. She confesses that this long gap in schooling has left her feeling helpless, “I can’t help him since I did not go to school.”

Gavi is one among 32 crore children in India who have not stepped into school since the pandemic struck. Even though the low budget private school that Gavi attends is conducting online classes, his father needs the only smartphone in the household for his job as a cab driver.

His case is no exception. In fact, it is the norm. In Karnataka alone, out of the 93 lakh students who were surveyed by the Department of Public Instruction, 37.8 lakh students did not have access to digital education; 33 per cent of children did not even have access to digital devices like phones.

As online education remains out of reach, for many children this has meant that their contact with education has been virtually severed for one and a half years, causing unprecedented levels of learning loss.

Before the pandemic, Gavi was in the fourth grade. He could recite multiplication tables until 13, add, subtract and multiply and divide easily. “I’ve forgotten everything now,” he said. He hopes that when he goes back to school, he will remember whatever he learnt.

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In Karnataka, schools opened for Class 9 and 10 students on August 23. Classes 6 to 8 are scheduled to resume from September 6. This announcement brings trepidation for children, parents and teachers, raising questions about how children will fare academically after sporadic contact with education for a year and a half.

Parents worry that the transition to regular schooling may not be smooth, as they describe the regression in learning they have witnessed over the past year and half.

Jaya V, a homemaker, recalls how her daughter Gayathri, a Class 4 student at a private school in L R Nagar, could read English paragraphs fluently. Now, she struggles to read through sentences.

A study by Azim Premji University that looks at the loss of learning in Indian school goers during the pandemic adds substance to this worry.

Close to 92 per cent of students have lost one specific language ability and 82 per cent have lost one specific numerical ability such as identifying two or three digit numbers, problem solving capacities or performing basic arithmetic operations.

This is particularly worrisome, since learning levels have always been low in low-cost private schools and government schools. The Annual Status of Education Report, 2018 stated that 50 per cent of Class 5 and 25 per cent of Class 8 students cannot read a Class 2 level text. The pandemic has made education inequity even starker.

Since school started on August 23, Rekha T*, an English teacher at a government high school in Davangere has been with foundational knowledge with her Class 9 and Class 10 students.

"Even students who could study well have lost the ability to read," she said. "For some students, I have had to start from teaching them letters. I don't know how I can teach them such basics and also teach them the regular syllabus. It is impossible," she said.

In Herur, Koppala, a government primary high school teacher, Anil Kumar is more resigned about the situation: “We must teach according to the requirement of the children, if they don’t know key concepts, that is what we should emphasise,” he said.

Another government teacher at a primary school in North Bengaluru has tried everything — from printing out their own worksheets, teaching on WhatsApp and even tracing students during ration distribution programmes — but knows that her efforts have yielded limited outcomes.

“Our efforts have not even been 50 per cent effective. We can tell from the worksheets,” she said.

Often the worksheets or study material sent on WhatApp would need the aid of adults. Busy with earning a livelihood or not educated themselves, many parents are unable to help their children.

Some teachers have also heard about the series of announcements by Chief Minister Basavarj Bommai about the implementation of the National Education Policy. “It was a sudden announcement. I hope they don’t plan to implement it now. We have too much to do,” said Rekha.

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Bridge courses

The Karnataka Government had sent out a notification for all schools to conduct at least 15 days of bridge courses. Materials for the bridge courses are even available on the Department of State Education and Research Training.

However, the effectiveness of these courses is up for debate. Sunil H*, a Math teacher at a government school has accessed the materials but the learning levels are so varied that it was difficult to use the material.

“It seems like a revision which is futile if they are not a little familiar with the concept,” he said.

Many teachers depend on material they come up with to get children on the same page. Dr Indira Vijaysimha, a retired professor at Azim Premji University explains that while some teachers may take initiative, the sheer amount of backlog and curriculum to cover can force teachers to “drill” subjects into students and not teach them in a way that helps them retain concepts.

To understand learning levels within classrooms, she recommends localised assessments based on which the curriculum can be modified.

Dr S N Gananath, an education expert, explained that in some subjects, several lessons can be skipped and it will not affect future learning. However, he cautions, “Other subjects like Maths, skipped lessons or poorly understood lessons will affect future learning.”

“Teachers should ideally work with a restricted curriculum that covers key concepts. They should be empowered to innovate their teaching methods with tools and activities so that retention increases,” said Dr Gananath.

One thing is for certain, there must be a concerted effort from all child care officials to coordinate.“DSERT, Block Resource Centre, Cluster Resource Centre and District Institute of Education and Training and experts should work together to set up a realistic system,” said Niranjan Aradhya, an education expert.

There is also a need to build resilient systems that can withstand the onslaught of the third wave, if and when it comes.

Due to disruptions in the midday meals, a scheme that covers 80 per cent of primary-school-aged children, another area that requires immediate attention and intervention is nutrition loss. A report by Oxfam in 2020 indicates that 35 per cent of government schoolgoing children did not receive midday meals or dry rations.

Dr Indira, referring to the government programme Nali Kali, which engaged community volunteers to build alternatives to classroom teaching, explains how these volunteers under the support of teachers can provide alternatives to classroom teaching at the community level in the case of school closures.

Due to disruptions in the midday meals, a scheme that covers 80 per cent of primary-school-aged children, another area that requires immediate attention and intervention is nutrition loss. A report by Oxfam in 2020 indicates that 35 per cent of government schoolgoing children did not receive midday meals or dry rations.

Drop out rates

Education experts are also concerned that the academic confidence of children has taken a severe hit after intermittent contact with education. Out of 20 children who talked to DH, 18 confided that going to school felt intimidating and feared that they would not be able to keep up with classmates or the pace of teaching.

If these fears continue, teachers are apprehensive that children may drop out. According to a report by Childfund India in 2020, 64 per cent of children surveyed across India were worried they would have to drop out if they are not provided with additional academic support.

With many schools still yet to reopen, it is difficult to know how many children are out of school presently but loss of academic confidence may just be one factor that will keep children from coming to school.

Rekha said that during the pandemic, some of her students were involved by their parents in labour due to financial constraints and also because parents feared that their children would wander off and “do mischief”. Three girls in classes that Rekha teaches were also married off. “There may be other cases that we have not heard of,” she said.

With children just returning to school, it is difficult to ascertain how many have dropped out and for what reason. However, the very possibility calls for developing a greater support system involving teachers, child protection officers and child welfare committee members.

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The way forward

Parents, who are important stakeholders, should also be taken into confidence and told that students may display less interest because of sporadic learning.

While the pandemic is a huge setback to the education of lakhs of children, there is also the possibility of overcoming it and ensuring children have the opportunity to exercise their right to education.

“If we don’t take action we may see many, many children discontinuing their education,” said Aradhya.

Education, Geetha hoped, would be a ticket out of poverty for her son Gavi, her tool for his social mobility. “Now, if schools don’t open, I think he’ll be stuck like me,” she said.