Only 8% rural kids in online classes, big shift out of pvt schools

Only 8% rural kids in online classes, big shift out of pvt schools

TCS Desk 

07 sep 21

The pandemic-induced school closures have resulted in “catastrophic consequences” for students, especially for those in rural areas, with a mere 8% studying regularly online and 37% not studying at all, according to a new survey.Plus, the financial stress caused

 by the pandemic has resulted in an exodus from private schools. Over a quarter of those enrolled in private schools switched to government schools during the 17-month-long school lockdown either due to depressed family earnings or because online education did not work well for their children.

The survey, supervised by economists Jean Dreze, Reetika Khera and researcher Vipul Paikra, covers 1,400 students enrolled in Classes 1 to 8 across 15 states and Union Territories, namely Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Delhi, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh account for more than half the sample.

The results of the survey, conducted in August this year, are based on interviews of 1,400 households in rural hamlets and urban bastis “inhabited by underprivileged families the sort of families that send their children to government schools”.

“About 60% of the sample households reside in rural areas, and close to 60% belong to Dalit or Adivasi communities,” the report states.