Statsguru: How well did children learn at home amid Covid-19 pandemic

Children have suffered significantly because of the pandemic. In the years when they should have been able to learn in classrooms and labs, and play outside, they did everything on their parents’ smartphones. The latest Annual Status of Education Report of 2021 (ASER 2021) throws light on the status of school reopening in rural India, and the quality of learning in rural homes.

The report finds that some states have still not reopened secondary schools. For primary schools, the caution has been considerably higher: Nearly 13 among 25 states have still kept schools shut for kids in Classes 1-3 (chart 1).

The main highlight of the report was an increase in the share of government schools in rural education. While most schools were not equipped to start teaching, the fall in private schools’ share in educating rural children could be due to higher fees and financial difficulties among parents. School expenses grew 40 per cent for private aided schools, 28 per cent for private unaided schools, compared to 17 per cent growth for government schools between 2014 and 2018, a National Sample Survey report showed (chart 2).

Now while students were learning from home, ASER 2021 shows that one in 10 did not get textbooks. Further, when it comes to additional learning material, only 30-45 per cent kids got it while schools were shut (chart 3). Even as schools reopened, the majority did not receive it.

And when they received, it was not through post or by parents physically visiting the school and getting it for their children. WhatsApp was the primary mode of transferring learning material from schools to children, via parents (chart 4). Use of WhatsApp was more pronounced in private school-going kids. Their parents were also more likely to help them in learning at home (chart 5).

 

But as more and more sectors open up fully, the share of children who are not getting learning support at home is rising. While fathers are spending less time on kids’ education, mothers' involvement hasn't changed (chart 6).

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StatsGuru is a weekly feature. Every Monday, Business Standard guides you through the numbers you need to know to make sense of the headlines; Source: ASER 2021