Parents are worried about toddlers losing out on learning in the pandemic

The learning and development milestones for pre-school children across India have taken a severe hit due to COVID-19.

Their first introduction to education - the pre-school format where children are taught socialization, numbers, language, and some life skills - has been halted. According to a recent survey conducted by EuroKids International, as the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the 2020 academic year, pre-school parents are quite worried about their children having lost out on learning as a result and believe that it is very important to keep a child's education going during this pandemic.

According to the survey results, a high degree of parental concern towards education is evident as 95 per cent of the parents have enrolled their child in some form of learning - online or home schooling, to ensure continuity in their learning. When asked how long children spend learning during a week, 43 per cent of the respondents stated that children spend between one to three hours a week learning, while 37 per cent stated that children spend more than three hours learning. As pre-schools have been closed since March 2020, parents have found that online learning has been a viable substitute for their toddlers to avoid a near zero-learning year for their children. In light of the pandemic, an online pre-school offers children a structured learning program. When asked about the achievement of learning outcomes of their children, parents cited that their children were able to grasp pre-academic skills such as recognizing colours, printed names, letters of the alphabet, numbers, etc. more than any other skills.

Additionally, the survey also reveals that many parents believe that while academic learning is being somewhat managed and learning outcomes therein are being addressed, parents are also worried about their child's social and physical development.

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With the second wave of the pandemic extending the closure period of pre-schools, parents are increasingly worried about the adverse impact of a two year learning gap on their child's developmental milestones. As per the survey findings, 80 per cent of parents who had enrolled in Home Buddy (an online pre-schooling app from EuroKids) saw delivery of clear learning outcomes and 75 per cent of these parents were willing to recommend Home Buddy to their friends and families. "Global evidence over the years clearly state that the learning journey for children is the most rapid in the early years. The closure of early childhood education centers all throughout this pandemic has resulted in a widening gap in learning for most children. We understand the importance of uninterrupted learning and we want to encourage parents to consider remote learning for their children, so they can continue to achieve their developmental milestones. Children should stay indoors for the present but restart their learning with experienced educators and use scientifically developed methods," said K V S Seshasai, CEO, Pre-K Division, EuroKids International, speaking about the survey findings.

Over 70 per cent of the parents surveyed stated that they would continue or choose online learning (led by the teacher and supplemented by the parent), in case schools do not reopen in the next six months, while 22 per cent would seek a home schooling option, by the parent, perhaps with teacher support. The EuroKids International survey was conducted by The Hearth Education Advisors across 10 cities with 1,082 parents. The research study was conducted in detailed Qualitative and Quantitative phases. Here, insights were gathered through the qualitative probes and to provide an understanding of what parents of toddlers feel about the learning pathway of their children