December 13, 2021
Pratima Mandal makes Zero Hour mention on improving children’s accessibility to education in general and to digital education
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Sir,
Education has always been affected by persistent issues like access, continuity, learning gaps and gender inequality, but all these have been amplified due to the pandemic. According to the Honourable Education Minister himself, 15 crore children are out of the educational system in India. According to the national Right to Education Forum, 10 million girls are at the risk of dropping out. This implies clearly that the efforts put into educating girls will all go in vain. Now is the time to take the necessary action or else the backslide will be irreversible. Loss of income for the families has snatched away the opportunity of the girl child of the family.
We should not wait for these to reflect in the records and indexes. Rather, attention must be given to come up with a robust mechanism that will ensure that children are not deprived of their right to education. More funds should be allocated for education and for ensuring the psychosocial well-being of children who have lost their guardians. Financial assistance must be coupled with a proper care system that will look after the needs of children, which is necessary for development.
Teachers must be trained to adapt to a ‘new normal’ environment, of which digital literacy is a crucial part. This brings me to the most crucial point regarding digitalising education, which is accessibility. Children must be provided with the means to continue with their education far away from their classrooms. I would request the Honourable Minister to look into the matter seriously because this lack of access is equivalent to a silent pandemic which is engulfing our country. Sir, we need to educate and protect the children of the nation. Thank you, Sir.
