Our warrior, Gargi Pandey, from Delhi, working on our education projects explains why investment in education is crucial for fighting social inequity.
With the COVID-19 pandemic that brought the world to a halt, almost every sector in the world has been affected adversely. But, unlike any other commercial business which can, in most cases, try to make up for it’s losses, the education sector has suffered massively. According to a UN Policy report about Education in COVID-19, nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries have been affected due to this pandemic. Coming back home, a whopping 32 crores children have been affected due to the pandemic. Although, there has been a growing rise in education being shifted online, it only took place amongst schools that had upper class and upper middle class children. Children of daily wage workers, migrant workers and other lower class income families have been especially impacted, mainly due to the lack of resources that are required to pursue online education. In a country like India, which never considered streamlining education on online platform, to be suddenly plunged into an unknown territory has been quite difficult for kids. To dig deeper further into the issue, a study done by Young Lives, an initiative of Oxford University noted that, in India, girls are often excluded from access to technology. Factors such as gender bias make it even harder for such girls to gain their basic education. Prof Amita Rampal, Educationist, Delhi University, says, “It is estimated that about 20 per cent of girls are not going to come back to school after lockdown….most of the girls from families of migrant workers are in the vulnerable age where they are likely to get married.”
But that is not all. Teach for India conducted a comprehensive study to understand various branches of primary education and how adversely it has been affected due to the pandemic. According to the study, a startling population of 9.7% population of India is below the age of 5 years. Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) has been formed for the very reason of making sure that kids below the age of six are also provided proper education. Now, here’s where the real tragedy comes. Even though National Policy on Education (NPE) and the RTE recognise the importance of ECCE, RTE guarantees free and compulsory education only from the years 6-14 years. One of the main reasons that ECCE cannot reach it’s target is due to the lack of monitoring schools and Anganwadis that are responsible for the dissemination of information. That, along with the fact that most of the schools do not have enough funds to support and see through the entirety of the project also becomes a hindrance for ECCE. Another thing that was brought to light was the fact that a functional school doesn’t necessarily equate to quality learning. India is fazed with the shortage of almost 9 lakh teachers and this often leads to children not being provided quality education. But there’s another challenge that schools face all around the country. Integrating technology with education has been a major challenge for various education administrations. Even though metropolitan cities have been better at doing so, schools that are in various small towns and cities lack the resources to even think about integrating technology into education where availing a computer is a herculean task in itself.
Now that seems like a bucket full of problems. But here is where the solution comes in. We can help you in directing your resources to a fair and legitimate cause. One of the core issues that Humane Warriors has always focused on is the field of education. We have integrated and created multiple projects that talk about imparting education at various levels. Currently, we are simultaneously spearheading multiple projects such as E-Learning Center, Scholarship Fund and Tribal Learning Center. Where E-Learning Centre is mainly concerned with setting up energy independence, providing computer provisions, generating better learning curriculum and inculcating skill development workshops at Kanhewadi School. Scholarship Fund is a joint initiative with M.H. English School, Malwani, Mumbai to provide fees for students during the tenure of pandemic so that they can continue their education without having to worry about payment. Apart from that, be it transparency reports or progress has been provided on our official website (www.humanewarriors.in). A simple donation can change the way we view education in India.
