In March this year, 270 million Indian children were forced to stop going to school because of the pandemic. The sudden move into distance mode has offered insights into the opportunities and limitations of digital modes of instruction.
It found that, despite announcements by state governments of continuing to deliver classes during the lockdown through TV and online, over 80% of parents in government schools were concerned that education had not been delivered.
These findings are unsurprising in light of the fact that 15% of households have access to the internet in rural India; a figure that is even lower for marginalised social groups. Access to digital devices is also gender biased: just 29% of India’s internet users are women.
According to Oxfam’s status report, over half the parents asked found internet speed and signal to be an issue while a third said data was too expensive. This is compounded by challenges such as not having the right device or being unable to...
learn more
