-Newsclick.in Just reopening schools won’t make an unequal education system more equal without public funding. It may speed up SARS-CoV-2 mutations and risk another brutal Covid-19 wave. The Delhi government recently decided to reopen schools and other educational institutions after a long Covid-19 related shutdown. Previously, several other states had taken similar decisions. Such decisions have been backed by several experts and activists, principally on two grounds. Firstly, socially and economically disadvantaged...

-The Hindu Use of technology helped students pursue both online, offline modes of learning Jaipur: A new initiative launched in Rajasthan with appropriate use of technology has led to access of students to both online and offline modes of learning during COVID-19, with the availability of synchronised competency-based contents, supplemented by home visits of teachers. The innovative solution has also addressed the digital divide in the desert State. The Aao Ghar Mein Seekhein...

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...

-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...

-Inclusive Media for Change  The pandemic induced school closures have taken a huge toll on the right to education and learning levels of the school children coming from underprivileged sections. A survey covering 1,362 school children (enrolled in Classes 1-8) from 1,362 households, which was carried out in 15 states/ UTs in the month of August 2021 (first round), reveals the catastrophic consequences of prolonged school closure in the last one...