Digital Divide in Education

Covid-19 will leave a far deeper scar than what is visible to the naked eye. We often talk about the impact of the pandemic on the economy. We talk about how the entire world turned a blind eye towards this impending danger. We talk about two worlds – pre and post-corona. But we do not discuss the true impact of this lethal virus on education. Education is perhaps the sector worst impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic and it will take years to erase the bitter memories of this silent destroyer from the minds of the children.

Worldwide, 1.3 billion children have been out of school for the last six months. Chances are bleak that the younger ones will be able to attend schools in the near future. Worse is the fact that the pandemic struck when we were at the end of an academic year and about to start a new one. As a result, most students are still unaware on whether they have been promoted to new classes or have remained in the same class. In India, the prevailing confusion has taken an ugly turn. Considering the gloomy situation, many universities and boards promoted their students without taking the final examinations. But now the Supreme Court has ordered that no one should be promoted without clearing the exams. Quite interestingly, many final year students after being given the degrees without appearing in the final exam, have even joined services based on the certificates provided by their institutions. Now after the said judgement, those students will have to sit for the exams once again. But what will happen if they fail to clear the exam? Will they be thrown out of their jobs or be allowed to continue even without having the requisite qualifications?

Sensing the danger, England has already opened schools as the country favours face to face interaction between the teachers and students in a classroom more than any other method of teaching. But other countries including India are yet to take up such bold steps. These countries are currently relying on online teaching. But, unfortunately many countries do not have adequate facilities to initiate online teaching. For example, India may have 450 million internet users, but 40 per cent of those users are living in big cities, while only 15 per cent live in villages. Remember, over 50 per cent of Indian population live in villages. Moreover, there are still 55,000 villages which are not even covered by mobile networks. This huge urban-rural divide will always pose a danger to India’s plan of making the education system digital.

It is the duty of the government to come forward to save the situation. India’s new education policy has advocated for an increased outlay on education. It has suggested that at least six per cent of GDP should be spent on education. Acting on this suggestion, the government should bring the entire country under a stable mobile network and provide necessary gadgets to the students. So that, in the future, if and when we find ourselves in such a cruel situation, our education system will not suffer; it will continue to enlighten us as always.