Education: India did reasonably well in transitioning to online learning during the COVID-19-induced school closures. This shift, however, proved detrimental to the financial well-being of parents and schools, according to a report by Oxford University Press (OUP).
Unequal access to digital learning devices, lack of internet connectivity and familiarity with teaching-learning tools were some of the other issues identified during the survey.
The report titled Education: The Journey Towards a Digital Revolution is a result of surveys conducted in seven countries including the UK, India, Brazil, Pakistan, Spain, Turkey, and South Africa, with a view to study the change in the learning ecosystem, and the future of education.
Nearly 71 percent of respondents in India felt that the move to online education had been “detrimental to well-being”. They also stated that the financial strain had been felt by parents as well as the schools. “Many parents have not been able to pay the fees for their children, adding further to the strain on the schools to keep going despite the lockdown that has lasted almost the entire academic session.”
Further, the survey found that while the teachers in India aimed at synchronous learning, they struggled to keep track of students’ learning progress.
Pointing out the digital divide across the seven countries, the report stated that in high-income countries digital learning covered over 80 percent of the population, but was less than 50 percent in low-income countries due to technical barriers such as insufficient access to electricity, and human barriers such as limited digital literacy.
In India, respondents explained that a “large majority of students have been impacted due to a lack of devices or connectivity at home.” One South African respondent remarked that “data is costly, and for many families, the only device available is a mobile phone.”
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