Editorial: Education sector needs a recovery plan
The government has once again extended the closure of all educational institutions including schools and colleges to August 6, in line with ongoing efforts to contain transmission of the coronavirus. A decision in this regard was imminent, and expected by the education sector, with the previously announced closure period expiring on June 15. All educational institutions in the country have been closed since March 17. If current trends in infections and deaths from the coronavirus continue, the closing period may extend well beyond September, which was when the prime minister earlier said might be a possible time for considering a reopening. In fact, experts predict that things will further deteriorate in the coming days. While saving lives without ignoring the economic exigencies of the people is our number-one priority at the moment, one fears the decision to keep students at home for a long time, without coming up with a comprehensive rescue and recovery plan for the education sector, will create formidable challenges.
The government's interventions in education so far have been mostly limited to extending closures and providing basic guidelines and edicts on how to continue virtual learning. The idea of virtual learning worked to some extent but risks falling by the wayside as many students, especially those from poorer families and disadvantaged groups, are finding it difficult to cope with. While universities are devising their own plan to resume semesters, how do we make up for the loss in the studies of the vast number of school and college going children? How do we reduce the inequalities sparked by unequal and insufficient access to online classes and tutorials? What about the mid-year exams, or the HSC exams which have been deferred for an indefinite period? We need an urgent rescue and recovery plan to offset the impacts of the pandemic on education. Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), a civil society forum of education NGOs, warned that progress made in the last two decades in education is in danger of being lost due to the immediate and longer-term consequences of Covid-19. Similar alerts have been raised by UNESCO for low and middle income countries. To address this threat, CAMPE had urged the government to initiate a three-year education recovery plan.
Surely, there is a surfeit of ideas about what could be included in such a plan. The government can begin by having experts devise a comprehensive plan that will include our ICT infrastructure, connectivity, broadband access, educational technology support and training for teachers, among other priorities, as necessary components. Some form of selective reopening may be considered in the near future. And of course, the proposed education budget should be reviewed and changed to allocate at least 15 percent of the total budget for education, as experts have demanded, to recover from the learning loss created by Covid-19.
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