Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments. Schools were closed as a precautionary measure to protect the students from Novel COVID-19 (Corona) virus across the world. This has interrupted the learning of students from pre- school to grade 12. During the pandemic, Ministry of Education has held several consultations with the States and UTs to assess the various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. After discussion with the States and UTs, a multi-pronged approach has been adopted to enable multi-mode access to education. Based on the UDISE Plus report 2019-20, 22% schools had access to internet. The Government has taken various steps to provide education amidst COVID-19 pandemic. These include PRAGYATA Guidelines on various modes of digital education including online mode that depends more on availability of internet, partially online mode that utilizes the blended approach of digital technology and other offline activities, partial and offline mode that utilizes television and radio as a major medium of instruction of education. The guidelines can be accessed at:
https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/pragyata-guidelines_0.pdf
The State governments have been asked to act based on the situation prevailing at every place to meet the demands of all students for providing them with the digital access required for learning digitally. In order to enable online education benefit to the children of every category and teachers, Learning Enhancement Guidelines have been issued. The guidelines can be accessed at:
https://www.mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_filehs/mhrd/files/Learning_Enhancement_0.pdf
With a view of addressing the issues related to gaps and/or loss of learning among students, during and after the lockdown, National Council of Education Research & Training (NCERT) has prepared ‘Alternative Academic Calendar’ which is a Week-wise plan for grades 1 to 12 and has been developed. It consists of interesting activities and challenges related to topics/themes in the syllabus. It maps the topics/themes with the learning outcomes & facilitates teachers/parents to assess the progress in students’ learning in a variety of ways. NCERT has also developed bridge course for children including lots of activities which are helpful for bridging the learning gaps across classes 1-8 and the States/UTs have also been requested to prepare and implement School Readiness Module/Bridge Course in classrooms for initial one or two months for each grade. When school reopens, the grade related syllabus should be undertaken only after the bridge course is completed, so that students can adjust to the changed school environment and do not feel the stress or being left out, especially students who did not have access to alternate means of education. Further, Vidya Pravesh has been launched for class 1st students. This is a play preparation 3 months program which prepare students for school through playschools. This scheme aims at spreading the concept of playschools to the remotest parts of the country. It aims to ensure that no student is deprived of education.
