Covid-19 and social distancing are likely to stay for a while.
Given this, online education is not a transient phenomenon, and thus needs concerted efforts with a long-term view.
What are the technical limitations involved?
With the onset of Covid, India’s schools and colleges are functioning through online instruction.
But digital deprivation remains high in India.
Rural India has 22.7 crore active Internet users, slightly more than urban India’s 20.5 crore.
[According to a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Nielsen]
India’s smartphone penetration now stands at over 50 crore.
This still leaves out half a billion people, a large category of have-nots, in an increasingly online-determined existence.
The call to boycott Chinese brands could also impact smartphone affordability among the rural and urban poor.
Moreover, online classes, being video content, require 4G reception.
While data charges in India are low, most handsets being used by the poor in India are not 4G ready.
India’s mobile broadband is known for its poor quality, especially in rural areas.
In fixed-line broadband penetration, India ranks among the lowest in the world with only 6% (of the total population).
This is much low compared with 55% in China, 70% in the Eurozone and 80% in Japan.
What is the imminent risk?
With education becoming inaccessible or hard to access, dropouts could increase for want of a laptop, smartphone or Internet connection.
This could affect the more than a decade of gains made in school enrolment through schemes such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan and the mid-day meal programme.
To prevent their children from leaving school, poor parents may sell precious assets.
This might push them further into poverty.
What does this call for?
The State and Central governments should wake up to the widespread lack of access to resources necessary for online learning.
A Central allocation of barely 5% of the GDP on health (1.6%) and education (3.1%) is inadequate.
It is high time that governments realise the benefits of investing in human capital.
As an immediate measure, States could consider allowing schools to channel unutilised funds such as those for sports, building and infrastructure upkeep for online education resources.
Bharat Net project should be speeded-up.
Cable TV can also be explored as an alternative for imparting instruction, as Kerala has sought to do.
