Government schools in Jharkhand have shown dropped student attendance rates after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a report prepared by Belgian-born economist Jean Dreze and researcher Paran Amitava, it has decreased to 68 per cent at the primary school level (Classes I-V) and to 58 per cent at the upper primary level (Classes VI-VIII).
Dreze's report also mentions that 53 per cent of teachers admitted to students forgetting how to read and write after the schools reopened following the pandemic. It was prepared based on a survey conducted in 138 state-run schools across 16 districts of the state. The survey, titled Gloom in the Classroom: The Schooling Crisis in Jharkhand was, in turn, conducted by the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (Jharkhand), as per a report by PTI.
"The survey showed that underprivileged and tribal children were left abandoned by the Education Department. The schools were closed for two years but nothing was done for them. The online education during the period was just a joke as 87 per cent of students in government schools had no access to smartphones," Dreze said.
Jharkhand Education Project Council (JPEC) director Kiran Kumari Pasi admitted the learning abilities of students and their attendance in schools have declined after the pandemic. The JPEC is an autonomous body set up by the state government for the universalisation of primary education.
"I don't want to comment on the survey as I haven't seen it. But, it is a fact that the learning abilities of students and attendance in schools have declined after the pandemic. We have taken various initiatives — from promoting sports to recreation activities — to bring students back to school. The situation is improving now," Pasi stated.
The Gloom in the Classroom survey additionally found an acute shortage of teachers in the schools. "Only 20 per cent of Upper Primary schools and 50 per cent of Primary schools have a teacher-student ratio of less than 30, as prescribed under the Right to Education Act (RTE)," Dreze's report mentions, as per PTI.
"Out of the 138 schools surveyed for the report, 20 per cent had a single teacher. At 55 per cent, para-teachers accounted for the majority of teachers at the Primary level in these schools. At the Upper Primary level, the figure was 37 per cent. About 40 per cent of primary schools surveyed were run by para-teachers," it adds.
"Para-teachers have lower qualifications and less training than regular teachers, and it is doubtful if they are more accountable," Dreze said, adding that no teacher recruitment was done in the last six years in the state. "Not one of the schools surveyed had a functional toilet, electricity or water supply," he says further.
"Around 66 per cent of the primary schools had no boundary wall, 64 per cent did not have a playground and 37 per cent had no library books. The majority of the teachers said that the school did not have adequate funds for the midday meals," the report claims, as per PTI.
