Over one third govt school students surveyed in rural Haryana did not receive learning material

Nearly one-third of government schools students surveyed in rural Haryana did not receive any learning material during a reference period during the pandemic, findings

Nearly one-third of government schools students surveyed in rural Haryana did not receive any learning material during a reference period during the pandemic, findings of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2020 (Rural) Wave 1 have revealed. According to the findings of the report, released Wednesday, only 67.7% of the government schools students had received any learning material in the week prior to the survey, while the figure was 72.2% for private school students, in rural areas.

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The phone-based survey was conducted in 627 villages and covered 2,442 students in the age group of 5-16 years in the state. The survey was conducted over a span of ten days in September. The week prior to the survey has been treated as the reference week.

As per the survey, WhatsApp was used widely as a medium through which students received learning material. Around 92.2% of the surveyed students received learning material through WhatsApp in government schools. In private schools, 96.3% of students used WhatsApp for the same. About 3.3% of students in government schools received phone calls from teachers, 4.5% were personally visited by teachers, the survey added.

The survey also sheds light on factors due to which students did not receive learning material from schools. Among government schools in rural Haryana, 40.1% students blamed the schools for not sending learning material, 10% said they did not have access to the internet, 46.8% said they did not have smartphones, and 2.6% cited connectivity issues.

In Haryana, out of the surveyed children enrolled in government schools, 29.8% did not do any learning activity in the reference week. Further, roughly 14% of government school students in rural Haryana don’t have access to textbooks, while around 18% of students of class nine and above in government schools don’t have books.

The survey has also shown that a greater number of children had access to smartphones now, when compared to 2018. In Haryana in 2018, 39.7% of children enrolled in government schools and 71% in private schools had access to a smartphone. This year, 77.2% of children enrolled in government schools and 87.4% of children enrolled in private schools had access to a smartphone.

The state government had launched the ‘Ghar se Padhao’ campaign in April to ensure that teachers are in regular contact with parents and students through WhatsApp during the lockdown period, which began late March. The campaign is being monitored and operated by the Saksham Haryana cell.

Rakesh Gupta, nodal officer, Saksham Haryana, said that the department had revised its strategy in the last month and roped in Shiksha Mitras for providing learning material to students who didn’t have access to smartphones. “Under Saksham Haryana, we already had a WhatsApp network in place which was expanded for carrying out remote learning. We were able to reach out to a good percentage of students, however, not all could be connected initially. As per our assessment, around 30-40% of students were not receiving learning material. To ensure that learning material reaches such students, we have appointed Shiksha Mitras who stay in regular touch with students and provide learning resources,” said Gupta.