The current COVID-19 pandemic has hit the education system hard. All the schools and Higher Education Institutions in India have been shut since the first 21-day national lockdown from 25th March 2020 thus impacting over 253 million school going students and 37.5 million higher education students enrolled across India.
As the
Coronavirus cases continue to increase in the country, looking at the current
figures, it is inevitable that the coronavirus cases will increase in the
coming days and health and safety of children are under question. Under such
unprecedented circumstances demand is rising to call A.Y. 2020-21 as ‘Zero
Academic Year’
‘Zero
Academic Year’ means teaching and learning will happen to the extent possible
by using various alternate instruction methods, but there will not be any examinations,
grading or promotion to the next class.
A online
survey conducted by Local Circles group with 25,000 respondents in India, found
that a two third of respondents did not support reopening of schools on
September 1 and were worried about the chances of infection to children and
elders in the home.
International
precedent also indicates that cases spread through schools, with the American
Academy of Pediatrics reporting that almost one lakh children tested positive
in the last two weeks of July, just as some schools began reopening classes.
Current Scenario of India’s school children:
Current
educational situation of students varies widely, depending on age, location and
socioeconomic status. Private schools have already gone online with teachers attempting
to maintain a regular schedule. For Govt. schools, authorities have brought out
an educational calendar with lesson plans and learning activities, and are also
beaming classes through dedicated television channels in multiple languages,
especially for older children. Government has also issued screen time guideline
for pre-primary to Class 12th students. Given that this kind of
distance education requires digital access and/or self-motivation and parental
involvement, the vast majority of children in government schools have spent the
last three months on an extended summer holiday.
Challenges in reopening of schools in India
- No clear road map or timeline for school re-opening
- No clear health protocol for maintaining Health and safety measures while reopening schools
- Covering full academic curriculum lost due to school closures in remaining instructional days in academic year 2020-2021
- Un-equal Access to online and remote learning: only 24% of families have internet facilities in urban area which drop to 15% in rural areas.
Is Zero Year Theory, way ahead?
Although the adoption of blended learning (online + class) for curriculum content delivery is key to ensure the continuity of education following the physical closure of schools, children on an average, likely to experience a learning loss during this COVID affected academic year.
Online schooling requires a change in both the quantity and quality of the teaching capacity & revision in the curriculum,Students spend less time in online learning compared to in-school learning time Younger children may have problems in adapting to this model especially for the online learning sectionThe structure of many existing school buildings may not be appropriate if one wants to maintain physical distancing.
Hence
looking at challenges in reopening schools and content delivery mechanisms many
activists, teachers associations, parent associations in Delhi, Karnataka,
Telangana and Tamil Nadu have demanded to declare AY 2020 – 21 as Zero Academic
Year.
Is there any academic loss when curriculum is reduced?
COVID-19 and blended mode of learning in schools may not affect students equally. Students from less advantaged backgrounds can experience more significant learning loss during this emergency period than their more advantaged counterparts. This may be due to differences in financial & non-financial parental support, digital access & students’ digital skills.
Loss reflected in reduction in test score students would be experiencing because of less time spent in learning compared to the amount of time they typically invest when they are in school, stressed environment because of changed delivery mechanism and lack of learning motivation
In broader perspective academic loss will translate into a reduction of available human capital, with negative effects on future productivity, innovation and employment including future lower earnings for the student cohorts directly affected by the lockdown
On the other hand declaring A.Y. 2020-21 a Zero Academic Year will ensure:
- Reduced stress level of blended learning in students.
- No Academic loss and in terms of curriculum and skills learnt
- Safety of children from schools with inadequate infrastructure where social distancing might not be followed
- It will also provide time to governments and schools to ensure teacher training on health & safety of students, digital access to all students, developing new pedagogies in blended learning and developing school infrastructure with better hygiene and health safety measures.
