Coalition releases Research Brief

End Education Exclusion: RESUME and RENEW Education for 26 Crore Children!

September 5, 2021

The National Coalition on Education Emergency has released a Research Brief (in English Hindi हिंदी and in Kannada ಕನ್ನಡ).

This research brief summarizes research studies conducted across India and selected international studies between early 2020 and mid of 2021. The complete research compendium can be found here.

The research findings convey a consistent and grim picture. Continuous school closures and the limited reach of online/remote learning have had catastrophic consequences for children, on the academic, emotional, nutritional, social, and economic fronts.

More than 90% of underprivileged parents (97% in rural areas)want schools to reopen as soon as possible (SCHOOL, 2021)
As early as mid 2020, UNESCO estimated that about 14 crore students in primary school and 13 crore in secondary school had been affected by the lockdown in India (UNESCO, 2020).
Only 4% of students in rural areas and less than 20% in urban areas have access to essential digital infrastructure. (Reddy et al., 2020)

We must act now to RESUME and RENEW Education for 26 Crore Children!

State Governments should open schools (from anganwadis to high schools) at the earliest. Younger children should be prioritized
Guidelines should be put in place for safe reopening of schools and for helping children to resume their learning.
All teachers and non-teaching staff should be vaccinated on a priority basis.

Suggested measures for school re-opening:

Open schools safely: provide health and sanitation measures; ensure vaccination and testing of teachers; pre-plan seating arrangements; limit numbers per classroom, alternate attendance, use additional public buildings and open spaces
Communicate with parents and engage them in the school reopening plans: Bring every child back to school.
Provide Mid-Day Meals to all students in publicly funded schools, whether they are attending physically or remotely.
Design effective strategies for schools and teachers to support students’ socio-emotional well-being and address learning gaps.

The National Education Emergency Coalition is collating good practices and evidence to support school re-opening strategies.

– National Coalition on the Education Emergency (educators and activists group working across the country)