India’s education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to our economic rise. In FY20, the market size of the Education Industry stood at a substantial 117 UDS, contributing to the development of skilled manpower of commendable quality to fulfil the requirements of our economy. But the past year has brought about some unavoidable and fundamental disruptions to the system. All over the world, drastic steps were taken – schools, colleges and universities were shut down to fight the pandemic, and online learning became the order of the day. Needless to say, our system was woefully ill-equipped to adapt to an online mode of transmission.
According to UDISE 2019-20, only one in four teachers in India was trained to use a computer for teaching, a proportion that is even lower when considering government schools. Also, there were wide disparities among States, with Gujarat training 57% of its teachers while M.P. training only 9% of them. The poor performing Gross Enrolment Ratio of India did as well as could be expected, rising to 27.1% in 2019-20 for the 18-23 years of age group, on the back of a marginal 3% rise in total enrolment. Overall, the health crisis combined with a recession increased the incidence of families deciding to forgo higher education entirely or defer enrolment until next year or later. Along with restricted public funding in higher education, the likelihood of achieving the ambitious GRE targets set in the National Education Policy 2020 through current policy measures seems low.
Supplementing the dismal infrastructural conditions, there is also a scepticism about the value of open and distance learning credentials, with employers tending to devalue degrees earned through distance mode. But with no other options in hand, our current student-body can only hope for a rapid change in the conditions as well as attitude towards online education following the pandemic.
The government in its attempt to rectify the situation has implemented quite a few policy measures, though their effectiveness still remains doubtful. Responding to the concerns of financial constraints due to the recession, the UGC requested institutions to be sympathetic with families and allow them flexibility in payment of fees but did not provide any financial support. In fact, there has been a cut-back in government scholarships and funding of financial aid.
Anticipating pressure for more distance (online) education opportunities, the UGC has simplified regulatory procedures for the top 100 nationally ranked domestic institutions so that they can now directly offer fully online degree programmes. Deregulating the top-ranked institutions and encouraging them to deliver distance and online education may lift the quality of distance education and enhance the employment prospects of graduates from these programmes.
But even if quality improves, making the online route more attractive, there are tangible barriers to accessing online programmes. These measures do nothing to increase enrolments and do not directly address issues of affordability and accessibility. Connectivity in India is patchy – only 23.8% of households had internet access in 2017 and only 10.7% of households had a computer. These constraints will persist for some time, especially for students from lower- and middle-income backgrounds and for students in rural and remote areas.
The long-term implications of this crisis will undoubtedly be felt in the quality of the future workforce. There is still a way for us to go before we are able to achieve the principles entombed in visionary policies and programmes like the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act (2009), the National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy (2013).
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