Letter to Members of Parliament: An appeal was made to all the MPs to raise the issue of Education Emergency in the parliament, discuss in detail its various aspects and urgently address the emergency by taking concrete policy and budgetary actions that include financial, academic, nutritional and social measures, through a multi-year program.

Consultation with Governments: Drawing upon critical aspects from A Future at Stake and inputs from the committee formed by the Karnataka DSERT, the academic guidelines for school opening has been finalized and submitted to be issued by the education department. Read in English ಕನ್ನಡ.

Advocacy Campaigns
 

Eggs in midday meal: The NCEE endorsed a statement released by the Right to Food campaign, Karnataka, asking the government to increase the planned provision of eggs from thrice a week to students in North East Karnataka, to cover all children in the state and provide eggs daily as a part of the midday meals. Such provision would make a significant impact on the nutrition status of children and help in improving the nutrition levels of children in the state. As part of this campaign, eggs and bananas were distributed in a government aided high school in Bengaluru to urge the government to take necessary steps.

Children’s Day press release: Emphasizing that the need of the hour is for children to return to a caring, safe and conducive learning environment, where the focus is on strengthening their learning-to-learn abilities and re-establishing connections amongst students and between teachers and students. NCEE issued a statement calling upon governments to pay heed to the needs of the children and help them get the education they need and deserve.

Panel discussion: RTE Forum organized a series of thematic consultations with educational experts, professionals and concerned stakeholders with the purpose of developing a position paper on the safe reopening of schools that will provide a comprehensive analysis of the challenges faced by children and offer clear recommendations for the government. Gurumurthy Kasinathan and Dr. Sajitha Bashir participated in the 2nd and 3rd consultations respectively, where aspects related to the limitations and suggestions for appropriate use of technology in the response to the Education Emergency, the chronic under-funding in the public education system in India and the financial resources needed to ensure a comprehensive response to reduce inequality were highlighted. Links: 1st consultation 2nd consultation 3rd consultation

Steps in the right direction: The efforts of the Tamil Nadu Education department to aid the educational recovery of students facing the repercussions of the Education Emergency. Apart from dedicated funding from the government to address the learning gap due to school closure, two educational programs have been recently announced:

Illam Thedi Kalvi (“education coming home”): The Tamil Nadu government in collaboration with several NGOs, education experts, teachers and community volunteers has initiated a community learning program to support student learning through after-school activities and lessons in local community spaces. Efforts are underway to mobilize and sensitize volunteers through kala jathas and training programs. Resource material to be used by the volunteers has been developed by the SCERT.

Ennum Ezhuthum (“Counting and Writing”): A foundational numeracy and literacy program to achieve foundational literacy and numeracy for all children <8 years in the next 3 years. The program aims to use a comprehensive approach that moves away from the traditional syllabus completion methods to using methods that are appropriate to students contexts. Members of the NCEE have been involved in the planning and implementation of these programs. For more information, write to us.

The resource repository is being continually updated, compiling different ideas and activities to help teachers equip themselves with a flexible repertoire of approaches and resources to support the acquisition/re-acquisition of skills of learning – in terms of language abilities, mathematical abilities as well as socio-emotional development aspects .

We have also been continuing the documentation of the work and experiences of different organizations as innovation models, in engaging with children and creating opportunities for learning during the pandemic.

Policy Tracker: In addition to the school opening status in different states, information regarding education finances, mid-day meals, textbooks, etc are being collated to be included as part of the policy tracker by reaching out to government officials and other organizations. If you or anyone you know can help in this process or have any suggestions, please write to us. The education finance policy tracker is planned to be released early January 2022 and will provide information on state-wise budget allocations on education.

Family Survey: Key findings from the preliminary analysis of the household survey conducted in Karnataka to capture the educational experiences of children indicates that over 70% of parents felt that their children’s reading and writing skills have declined or stayed the same during the pandemic. The survey has now been completed in Telangana and is planned to be undertaken in Tamil Nadu as well. The short survey instrument can be translated into different languages. Groups interested in administering the survey in their states can contact the NCEE.