-The Hindu  It would be better off with few comprehensive national surveys than being over-dependent on the omnibus NFHS In a country perennially thirsty for reliable health data, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is like an oasis. It has a large volume of data that is openly accessible. The report of the fifth round of the NFHS was recently released (covering phase 2 States where data collection was delayed due to...

-Newsclick.in UNICEF urged governments to prioritise the safe reopening of all schools, while also ensuring that children are able to pursue quality learning remotely if necessary. At least 80% of children in India between the age of 14-18 years reported lower levels of learning during the Covid-19 pandemic than when physically at school, according to a recent UNICEF report. The report pointed out that despite government, private and civil society actors coming together...

Remote teaching and learning promoted by Edtech companies as an alternative to physical classrooms, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, may have a sizeable consumer base in our country. However, at the bottom of the pyramid, there are only a few takers of online education. In reality, class and caste-divide, which is more prominent in rural areas, affects access to digital learning. The majority of the school going...

-The Hindu Business Line As our governments think and rethink lockdown measures and scheme policy interventions, it is time we, as a society collective, pay attention to our children on the brink of irreversible damage What does it mean to lose one’s childhood to unsung labour? What is it like when books are replaced by bricks, playgrounds by agricultural fields, plastic toys with heavy-metal machines, alphabet recitations by silent cries of help?...

The pandemic's first wave had a devastating impact on the livelihoods of rural workers in Bihar (including the self-employed) last year, according to a survey based research, jointly done by economists from Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability at Monash University, Australia and the New Delhi-based Institute for Human Development. A recent press note issued by the authors of the study shows that almost 94.4 percent of the households participating...