Two days back on August 16, schools in the most populous state of the country, Uttar Pradesh, were reportedly reopened for classes 9 to 12 with 50 per cent attendance. Another circular issued by the state government today, August 18, informs that teaching in government schools for grades 6 to 8 will start from August 23 ,whereas for standards 1 to 5 it will start from September 1. All COVID19 protocols are to be followed in the school which were closed since March last year.

“From August 23 after Rakshabandhan, resumption of teaching activity may be considered for Classes 6 to 8, while the same could be considered for classes 1 to 5 from September 1,” reads the government circular dated August 18.

With COVID19 cases decreasing, several other states are considering reopening the schools as it’s been almost one-and-a-half-year and educational institutes across the country are shut due to the COVID19 pandemic.

Also Read: Education on hold: Amid the COVID lockdown, children in rural India will suffer the most

According to UNESCO, India’s 3.2 million students have experienced the world’s fifth longest school lockdown and these children are at the risk of falling behind due to the school closure and many may have already dropped out and may never return to the education system.

In view of the impact of COVID19 pandemic on children’s education, the Right to Education Forum, a platform of national education networks aimed to achieve the goal of equitable and quality education for all children, has demanded reopening of schools.

“Enough is enough. It is time to Unlock Education in India,” stated the Right to Education (RTE) Forum in its press statement dated August 14.

The Forum stated that it is time for the Indian state to realise its constitutional responsibility towards the country’s children. It stressed on the need for a better public education system that helps India emerge from this moment of crisis.

To achieve this, the RTE Forum has put forth 13 demands. These include addressing the emerging digital divide to respond to the educational needs of India’s poor, including tribal children, girls, COVID19 orphans; developing a long term policy on ‘Education in Emergencies’ to ensure readiness for future crises; protecting children from abuse, trafficking, child marriage; and placing a moratorium on private schools hiking their fees during the pandemic.

These demands were also shared during a webinar organised by the Forum on August 12, which was attended by Members of Parliament, including Manoj Kumar Jha (Rajya Sabha, Bihar) and Vishambhar Prasad Nishad (Rajya Sabha, Uttar Pradesh), to discuss the COVID19 pandemic induced challenges to continuing school education of millions of children in the country.

During the webinar, the Forum also pointed out that schools and Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE, such as anganwadis) centres do not just educate children, they are a place for socialisation, they provide nutritious meals, and provide social protection for the poor. However, “closed schools have deprived India’s children of more than just a chance to learn,” it said.

64% rural kids fear drop out

A 2020 survey titled ‘Perception, Fears and Readiness for Reopening of Schools’, by a Delhi-based non-profit ChildFund, revealed that 64 per cent of children in rural India feared they will drop out without additional support to cope with the learning gaps in their curriculum.

A 2021 study titled The Inequality Virus by Oxfam India, an international non-profit, revealed that less than 15 per cent of rural households reported to have an internet connection at the start of the pandemic when schooling moved online. As many as 96 per cent of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households lacked a computer.

Another 2020 survey by Oxfam India, ‘Status Report – Government and Private School During COVID-19’, found that 80 per cent of parents in government and 59 per cent in private schools reported that education was effectively not delivered during the COVID19 pandemic.

Cuts in Education Budget

When the education system needed help most, India’s national education budget saw cuts in Union Budget 2021, pointed out the Right to Education Forum.

This year, the central government slashed the allocation for education by about six per cent. The education sector was allotted Rs 932.24 billion for 2021, with Rs 548.73 billion for school education and literacy and Rs 383.50 billion for the higher education sector.

During the webinar on August 14, Muchkund Dubey, former Foreign Secretary and President, Council for Social Development (CSD), stressed on making a decision to send children back to school with adequate protection to them as well as the teachers.

“All developing countries have given priority to sending children to school to avoid tremendous loss to the nation,” he said.

The 13 demands

Mitra Ranjan, coordinator at National Secretariat of RTE Forum presented Forum’s 13 demands to Unlock Education and requested the members of Parliament to take these demands to their respective constituencies to endorse them.

These include:

• Get all children back in school for complete or partial in-person instruction.
• Ensure that this reopening is done safely and inclusively, activate existing community mechanisms to identify those at risk and take steps to protect children from abuse, exploitation and violence of all forms including child labour, child marriage and trafficking.
• Protect the constitutional rights to educational equality by addressing the emerging digital divide and developing clear strategies to address the educational needs of India’s poor and marginalized groups including girls, persons with disabilities, dalits, adivasis, minorities and new categories of the excluded like COVID orphans and children of migrants in the response.
• Place a moratorium on private schools hiking their fees during the pandemic.
• Increase budgetary allocations for education adhering to the minimum of six per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to ensure continuation of learning for all children, particularly those from marginalised groups.
• Develop a long term policy on Education in Emergencies to ensure readiness for future crises.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, merely after a week when schools reopened in Punjab on August 2, as many as 27 students were tested COVID19 positive in five government schools in Punjab’s Ludhiana, Abohar, Nawanshahr and Amritsar districts.

Also Read: Punjab: Week after schools reopen, 27 students test positive for COVID19

The Maharashtra government has announced reopening of schools in areas where the coronavirus cases are under control. On August 10, School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said that students of Classes 5 to 12 will be allowed to attend classes in rural areas from August 17 and in urban areas Classes 8 to 12 students will be allowed to visit schools.

However, a day later, the state education department put on hold its decision to reopen schools after objections from its COVID19 task force. One of the task force members reportedly said that the children below the age of 18 are not vaccinated and an impending third wave could impact them.

Also Read: Kids above 12 with comorbidities likely to be vaccinated first; Maharashtra govt puts school reopening on hold