Overcoming learning loss

Clamour for reopening of educational institutions is growing across the country as learning losses due to suspension of offline classes has become a genuine problem. Educationists have been insisting on urgent remedial measures such as resumption of offline classes to make up for learning loss. A set of recommendations made by the 'Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women & Children', in this regard will come handy for the States and Union Territories. A key recommendation of the Parliamentary panel is developing intensive bridge courses and accelerated learning programmes in consultation with experts in the field to make up for thelearning loss and bring students to the level of learning of each class. It has also recommended creating specific instructional materials and worksheets, workbooks to address the specific learning requirements of students thus enabling them to bridge the learning gap/loss. The committee's report titled "Plans for Bridging the Learning Gap caused due to School Lockdown as well as Review of online and offline Instructions and Examinations and Plans for re-opening of Schools" notes that it was not only the learning loss but also the loss of social contact and socialization routine that were part of the daily experience of a student's life in schools and educational institutions.The panel expresses concern that the learning loss of more than onewhole academic year would necessarily have weakened the foundational knowledge ofthe students especially in the subjects of mathematics, sciences, and languages at school level. This learning loss is a big deficit and is likely to impair the cognitive capabilities of students. This might have a debilitating effect on vulnerable sections of the society like poor and rural students, marginalized sections of society and young women who might have been unable to connect to any form of digital education during the pandemic, the report adds highlighting the ground realities and calls for immediate remedial steps. The committee's observation that "It is, however, debatable whether the screen time helped students learn or it actually impededtheir progress, including their social and emotional wellbeing" echoes concern expressed by parents that prolonged exposure to small digital screens have caused mental anxiety and depression among their children apart from eyesight problems and headache. The Committee is of the view that online education is not a real education because it is only a transmission of contents, and the student is deprived of real learning and understanding of concepts. To make up for learning losses, it has also recommended that learning Outcomes, subject-wise, during the pandemic period should be assessed by regularly conducting tests with multiple-choice questions or quizzes and remedial measures taken through intense customized personal remedial classes to address the problem areas of each student. Another key recommendation for bridging the digital divide is replicating the measure initiated by the Ladakh Union Territory of distribution ofpre-loaded tablets customized for each class for students in middle school and re-furbished laptops with pre-loaded educational programmes for students of secondary and senior secondary classes instead of providing free textbooks.

The Assam Education Department can explore this measure in lieu of distribution of smartphones. The Assam government has proposed to provide smartphones to eight lakh students of Class IX and X, but digital divide will remain a major hurdle for students in rural areas without Internet access. The report brings to light that effort was made to reach out to students through television and radio,but survey conducted by the Ministry of Education in respect of KendriyaVidyalayas revealed that only 5 per cent students used television and 05 per cent students used radio for online education. Information furnished by the Department of School Education and Literacy to the committee indicate that providing internet connectivity to all 2.5 lakh villages in the country and schools therein through Bharatnet is going to take at least two more years. Therefore, addressing loss of learning due to pandemic disruption must be the primary focus. Distribution of preloaded tablets or refurbished laptop is a pragmatic solution to overcome such digital divide. The State government can also explore using the expertise and services of AMTRON or other entities to explore viability of manufacturing such tablets/laptops indigenously at low cost through public-private partnership and by involving IITs, IT, Industry, business houses as recommended by the committee. Resumption of offline classes will continue to dependent on overall pandemic situation in a place and,therefore, improving the access of students for online learning remains a priority for the central and the state government to prevent deprivation of students if and when the COVID-19 pandemic situation requires suspension of offline classes. As Assam government is planning to resume offline classes of educational institutions from September 1, provided there no spike in COVID-19 positive cases, acting on the key recommendations of the parliamentary panel will immensely benefit the student community.