Educational divide

 “The wry humor of the situation becomes apparent when we recall that Saraswati is supposed to be the goddess of learning. UP is a state where illiteracy is endemic. Universal education for all children under 14 years of age, as mandated by the Constitution, has not been a priority with any of the successive governments this state has had since Independence… Could it be that the insult to the goddess of learning in keeping millions of people illiterate is sought to be compensated by forcing school children to do in ritual what the government won’t do in reality?… If we forfeit discernment at this juncture, Saraswati Vandana could well end up as a litany in the cult of political power…”

-        Swami Agnivesh (In 1998, when the Kalyan Singh government compelled students to recite Saraswati Vandana in UP’s schools)

Some of the worrisome figures can get a picture of the global digital divide. A dismaying 82.6 crore students do not possess computers and 70.6 crores do not have access to the internet, it accounts for 50% and 43% of the total number of learners, respectively. No matter, how far the information communication technology and artificial intelligence have spread its legs with no restriction of place, age, sex, religion, class, and caste (especially in the time of COVID- 19), but it makes no sense to the one who cannot afford it because solutions discovered by technology could only serve the people who hold purchasing power, knows the application and uses to transform their lives and with whom the reliable internet connectivity is available.

India is a land of paradoxes, home to well-acquainted IIMs, IITs, and other sophisticated institutes transfiguring the personality of candidates to beat or compete with their peers all around the world, on the other hand, it is also a country of those 27% students, who do not have smartphones and laptops to attend online classes, EWS students who have been excluded from attending online classes due to non-payment of fees. In this pandemic, they rely on television broadcasts, community radios, or laptops/ smartphones donated by fees paying parents, etc. But, these options are not sufficient as some households consider television as a luxurious commodity that they can’t afford and gadgets cannot reach all underprivileged children through donation. The HC of Delhi has told to private and government schools to end “digital apartheid” and instructed Kendriya Vidyalayas to distribute free gadgets to EWS students who are currently working through borrowing neighbor’s gadgets or take patent’s phone when free.

Another vital factor is malnutrition,  at present, 189.2 million people are mired into malnutrition, and looking to the current scenario, the Global Burden of Disease has alarmed India that it cannot reduce the number of low birth weight, underweight and stunning, each by 2% per year and anemia among children, women and adolescent girls each by 3% per year by 2022. To combat it, the government has launched Poshan mah to encourage diversity in food grains. The situation became even worse when the pandemic hit these people as in initial months, midday meals were not provided to them. A healthy candidate can study with greater efforts than a non-healthy one, hence building biases not only on the grounds of education but also on the health and consequently making them less competent to peers.

Then comes, electricity and poor network connectivity…...another major challenge! A power cut and poor internet connection have always been an issue that throws spanners in the works of students and this time, emerged out as a bigger problem. Despite numerous plans of the government, the rural parts are still being deprived of high-speed internet and electricity. To overcome internet trouble, two IIT Bombay students developed an application that runs on 2 G speed for their students in J&K. It could be applied to the entire country with modifications if needed or may build another application. But the electricity problem will take a long time to be resolved.

The time when a nationwide lockdown was imposed, all students went back home. Many students are being engaged in household chores that’s why they are not able to spare an adequate amount of time on studies. It’s the stereotypical mindset of their family members that online education is of no use, one has to go outside to earn bread and butter. It makes psychological pressure on students and on the other side, some parents understand that something is better than nothing. It does create an education divide.

Now comes, children of migrant laborers…..the condition of migrant laborers is nerve-wracking and their children lack stability and consistency in education. They are mired into poverty, craving for basic amenities. MGNREGA is not fulfilling their aspirations, somehow facilitating subsistence. Going through such a situation, one can’t think of education and there have already been various interruptions in this academic year, first, they came to the home, now returning to the place of work.

The government has also focused on the SWAYAM portal for free learning, some organizations like Intellify and online platforms like Coursera, Edx are putting sincere efforts to not only connect students with teachers of India but to all over the world. Even the small gatherings at tuition classes cannot be organized to restrain the spread of COVID-19. In other countries like Bhutan, educators are going door-to-door to teach fewer children in one place, but in India, this is not possible because of scarce human resources. Although, projectors could be installed to teach students by following social distancing norms.

Many not-for-profit schools are on the verge of shutdown or are already closed due to a lack of funds to run the day to day activities. The School Management Committee workers of Delhi are burning the midnight oil for making 5^th to 8^th class children admitted in the government schools by traveling to every home. The central government may collaborate with ITC e- Choupal to mitigate the technological barriers to education.

The new education policy is all capable of upskilling candidates with the right skills if implemented nicely, ironically, it contains no component for plummeting discrimination in education. The government would have brought a sound reform to counter inequality, learning from the pandemic scenario. It’s sad to see the potential students who are striving to explore and learn are deprived of education, notwithstanding the right to education. It is indeed a disrespect to the goddess Saraswati as Swami Agnivesh once mentioned.