Every sector of the economy and part of society has been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Education is one such area that has been suffering from uncertainty and anguish in such a time of distress. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) prepared by the research arm of PRATHAM, by conducting surveys revealed that the number of students enrolled in government schools has increased in comparison to previous years. However, the issue remains that many students are not yet enrolled in the new academic year of these government schools.

The on-call surveys were conducted in September 2020, which showed a gradual shift of students enrolled in government schools from private schools. The ASER report was released on October 28, Wednesday, and it showed that 69.55 % of the students were registered in government schools. This percentage value of students enrolled in government schools was 66.42 % in 2018. The students belonged to the age group of 6-14 years. The survey was conducted in 4 Union Territories and 26 States involving the children in the age group of the 5-16 yrs, in 52,227 households.

The survey also showed that the percentage of boys enrolled in government schools has gone up from 62.8 % in 2018 to almost 66.4% this year. For girls, the number increased from 70% to 73% in 2020.

Additionally, the number of students that are not yet enrolled in their new academic year has gone up to 5.5% in 2020, which was at 4% in 2018. This scenario is quite evident among the children of the age group 6-10 years, as they might have not yet secured their admission in any school. In 2018, 1.8% of such children were not enrolled in schools, but this year the number has increased to 5.3%.

Another major issue the report reflected was the use of smartphones by students to attend online classes, after the pandemic. At least 36.5% of the students are part of a family that owns just one smartphone. This creates a challenge for other family members and becomes difficult for the students to manage. This becomes more challenging when more than one child in the family needs to attend the online classes with just one smartphone available.

In another component of the report, 70.2% of the students revealed that they had performed certain learning activities with the materials provided by either the family members or the teachers. The most important and heartening aspect of this was the support of family members, especially the elder siblings who are helping them study and clearing their doubts.

While 84.1% of the students enrolled in government schools had the textbooks for their new academic year, only 72.2% of the students enrolled in private schools had such access to textbooks.

The author is a student member of Amity Centre of Happiness.