“The Online Education is the future of new world after the covid-19. Something which was earlier propounded as a part of developmental evolution, had rather proved to be a side effect of a pandemic.”
Covid-19 has crystallized the issues of non-inclusion of rural populace with the mainstream in terms of education. Is this the non-preparedness of the world in the face of a pandemic or an underlying pitfall of the education systems?
This issue prevails in even the most advanced nations where education had already been made partially or mostly online. So, this doesn’t seem a headache of India only, rather it is as widespread as the pandemic itself. Nevertheless, the disclosure of non-inclusion of rural students in the online education owing to the scarce access of internet to them is extremely concerning to a developing country like India. The impact of Covid-19 highlighted the embedded concern and raised the questions on the efficiency of the existing educational infrastructures.
As the technology advanced, the digital education started transforming the way education is imparted in schools and colleges. New methods of learning have evolved and the creative learning has become cost-effective with the help of e-learning apps, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), social media etc. The access to all these digital tools requires internet. Learning via these technologies isn’t a huge task. instead, availability and outreach to them certainly is.
Indian Aspect – Role of Government
The Rural Education in India largely rely on the government and its policies. A data from the ASER (Annual Status of Education Report)-2018 has revealed the implications of lack of advanced learning tools in educational institutes. It said that 55% students have never used computers.
Right to education act, 2009 made it compulsory for the state (India) to provide free education to children from 6 to 14 years of age. This act was enacted in 2010, on this occasion the then Prime Minister of Indian, Dr. Manmohan Singh stated, “We are committed to ensuring that all children, irrespective of gender and social category, have access to education. An education that enables them to acquire the skills, knowledge, values and attitudes necessary to become responsible and active citizens of India.”
Considering the above statement, Shouldn’t the rural students/children be ensured with another fundamental right of free and fast internet for online education?
In addition to this constitutional provision, there have been several governmental policies and schemes to encourage larger participation and collaborative learning.
Government of India isn’t hesitant in incorporating new technologies in the mainstream education, since there have been many platforms initiated with the purpose to proliferate and stimulate online studies. E-Pathshala, National Digital Library of India, DIKSHA portal and National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER) come under the excellent digital initiatives by the Government of India.
However, how useful these initiatives are without the internet access?
The dismal condition of education in rural India attributes to many factors such as lack of infrastructure, financial obstructions, unavailability of skilled teachers, disparity in the distribution of governmental aid and unawareness.
Let us broadly look at these factors to examine the root causes of backward condition of online education in larger parts of India specially villages.
- Lack of Infrastructure
Most of the schools in the smaller towns and villages don’t even have full-fledged education premises. The modern digital learning tools are hardly available to these areas. As a result, students remain devoid of interacting and getting introduced to newer methods of learning. Even those areas where schools and colleges are equipped with minimal tools, don’t really have the availability to reliable network for fast internet either due to being located at a remote area or facing funds related issues. India is the 2nd largest online market in the world, despite this fact, the internet penetration rate is only 50% in India.
- Financial Obstruction
65% of Indian population lives in the villages. Poverty is the base of the problem for rural Indians. They depend on government schools and colleges for their studies. Government, so far, has tried at a great extent to make education a lifestyle for the rural people. Yet after so many efforts the sustainability hasn’t been achieved in this direction. The prime reason being the allocation of funds percentage from GDP in education. The New Education Policy of 2020 shows rays of hope as the public investment in education is raised to 6% of the GDP.
- Unavailability of Skilled Teachers
The new learning methods require skilled trainers and teachers. A systematized guidance becomes essential before conferring digital tools in the hands of students. There are fewer teachers who are adequately adept in the newer education related technologies.
- Disparity in the distribution of Governmental Aid
Some institutes in some districts are heavily funded by government while others being located at the rural districts receives lesser aid from the government. Education comes under the State List subjects and hence there is asymmetry in the quality and approach of online education as per the varying states. This disparity leads to the inequality in the efficiency of the result produced by such educational institutes.
- Lack of Awareness
The lack of awareness about the significance of online education and its media is a critical cause of the overlying problem. Most of the students who have the access to internet, do not possess the direction or conscience of receiving the benefits of studying online. The misuse of technological resources also accounts for the deprivation from the perks of online education.
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