97% Parents Want Schools to Reopen, Online Classes Not Delivering: Survey

In March 2020, with the announcement of the nationwide lockdown, the schools were also shut. And now it’s been over a year-and-a-half since the pandemic began but the governments are still far from allowing the schools to operate at optimum capacity. Students of class 10 and 12, though, have started returning to school premises in almost every state, but the rest are still in online mode.

At least 15 states and Union Territories conducted a survey recently to know what parents thought about reopening schools for primary classes. The survey has several shocking revelations. The report on the survey reveals that 97% of parents want schools to reopen as early as possible.

According to the parents, many children are unable to read and write and the reason, according to them, is that they didn’t go to school. Parents say that not going to school has affected their ability to understand and reopening schools is the only solution to the situation. Not just that, shutting schools for such a long time has also resulted in kids forgetting what they had learnt earlier.

According to the survey, only 8% of students in rural areas are attending classes regularly, whereas 37% of the students are not attending classes due to a lack of smartphones and proper internet connections. Only 23% of parents in urban areas and  8% of parents in rural areas believe that their children could attend online classes properly.

Economist Jean Drèze, Ritika Khera and researcher Vipul Paikra, along with 100 volunteers, have conducted the survey. It also included 1400 school students. The report also reveals that many children from backward classes have been badly impacted due to online education.

According to the report Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh were the states with the lowest reach of online classes. Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Rajasthan were among the states that asked teachers to visit students to clear doubts and give homework but the results aren’t satisfactory, revealed the survey.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Assembly Elections Live Updates here.