Moneycontrol Masterclass | Nuanced approach to reopening schools needed, there is severe learning loss: Experts

Schools across India, which have over 260 million students, have been shut since March 2020. A recent study by the Azim Premji Foundation, based on an assessment of a sample of 16,607 children, showed that a majority of the children have forgotten foundational abilities in mathematics and over 92 percent have forgotten foundational abilities in language, which they knew in March 2020. Online schooling is not only ineffective in most cases but also inaccessible to a majority of the population.

As children now stare at the second straight year of online learning, is it finally time to open up schools? What kind of precautions will be needed as India is yet to have a vaccine for children? Will a hybrid model work? How can schools reassure children? To discuss more on this, Moneycontrol's Chandra R Srikanth spoke with Prasanth Nair, IAS, Zirak Marker, Senior Psychiatrist at Mpower, Mansoor Ali Khan, Board Member of the Delhi Public School, and Sumeet Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of LEAD School. Edited excerpts.

Mansoor Ali Khan: The pandemic has ensured that there is a severe loss of learning, reduced learning, not only specific to India but also globally. There is a huge learning crisis. Around 210 million Indian students do not have access to online learning. The last 17-18 months have seen no effective learning outcomes from schools, and the fear is that that we will lose a generation of learners. The number of school drop-outs is also increasing as schools remain shut.

Sumeet Mehta: The children who have suffered the most are in small towns and the poor because they don't have data and devices, so the choice of keeping schools closed is the choice of the privileged few. The poor and middle class don't have a choice. So the decision has to be made local area by area.

Prasanth Nair: We have to take a calibrated and nuanced approach towards opening school. Right now, the society at large is not understanding the gravity of the situation. Learning loss is something that needs to be understood clearly. This is not going to affect the entire generation but only the poor people. We have to open schools, else we are closing the doors on education for a large number of children. How to open is the question.

Mansoor Ali Khan: We can start off with hybrid schooling, students can be asked to attend schools in batches on certain days of the week so that there is social distancing. It is also important to ensure that the entire school staff and transport system are fully vaccinated. This has to be a collective process including the school management, parents and the government.

Sumeet Mehta: If you just translate the bad practices of a physical classroom to an online room, it won't deliver any learning. The real cause of learning loss is especially for people who do not have online learning. We also need to focus on social, emotional and mental learning of kids, the loss is not only academic. Hence, the norm has to be to keep schools open and treat them as an essential utility. Only in places where the case rate is high, close them for some time.

Prasanth Nair: We are not expecting this pandemic to end any time soon so we have to be very realistic. Our focus would be using more cheaper and accessible mediums like radio and TV instead of internet. Teaching the students how to be responsible requires a bit of effort and training. The infrastructural modification in a government school you need to plan and start investing in. I have a problem as a society; we are not preparing for schools to open.

Zirak Marker: When we open schools, we have to have a robust assessment of lost skills and learning lags. There has to be a multidisciplinary approach to going back to school. We also need to focus on social, emotional and mental learning of kids, the loss is not only academic. It is essential to have a mental health curriculum in classrooms. It is okay to have one less math or history class, but focusing on mental health is key.

Mansoor Ali Khan: We may have to explore all possibilities where we may have to adjust or reduce the curriculum, but without affecting the learning abilities and skills of students. So there is definitely room to re-look the curriculum without affecting the learning outcomes.

Prasanth Nair: Just like any other business which has been re-engineered in this crisis, if education is also able to reinvent, it will become more meaningful. How to do the redesigning is the real question.

Sumeet Mehta: Any policy the government makes is only going to be as good as its execution. In India, policy is not the answer, execution of policies is the answer. We have to let go of the fear of what will happen if schools happen because we're already in the middle of a catastrophe by keeping schools closed.