Lok Sabha Question No. 2008 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-14
Subject: Impact of COVID-19 on Private School Children
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Satyadev Pachauri

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2008 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.03.2022

## Impact of COVID-19 on Private School Children

## †2008.  SHRI SATYADEV PACHAURI:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether schools education has been affected due to Corona for the last two years and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  income  of  the  people  has  decreased  due  to  the  disaster  and  lakhs  of children studying in private schools in the country are unable to pay their fees;
- (c) if so, whether the Government proposes to take any step to help such children;
- (d) whether the Government has any plan to check the arbitrariness of private schools and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the increasing scope of private schools  becoming  a hindrance in the better implementation of the Right of Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009; and
- (f) whether  it  has  been  stated  in  the  USIDC  Plus  report  that  only  22  per  cent  of  the schools in the country have internet facility and if so, the manner in which education through digital medium is likely to be expanded?

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## ANSWER (SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a)  to  (d)  The  spread  of  COVID-19  pandemic  has  impacted  school  education  across  the world. Schools in States and Union Territories (UT) were closed as a precautionary measure to  protect  the  students  from  Novel  COVID-19  (Corona)  virus.  This  has  interrupted  the learning of students. 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 leveraging technology to reach the students. A comprehensive initiative called PM eVIDYA has been initiated which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education.

Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments. Thus, the matter relating to fees and its components in schools are regulated in terms of Rules and Instructions of the State Government concerned. It is for the respective State Government concerned to take necessary action against such schools which violate the Rules and Instructions of the State Government in the matter. So far as schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are concerned, the Board has issued circular on 17 th April,  2020  to  all  the  State  Education Department  with  the  request  to  consider  issuing  suitable  instructions  on  periodicity  of payment of school fees and payment of salaries to the teaching and non-teaching staff to be applicable during the period of pandemic. The circular can be accessed on the website

In order to mitigate the impact of challenges thrown by the COVID-19 pandemic for migrant  children  and  children  from  economically  weaker  section  and  for  preventing  drop outs, lower enrolments and loss of learning, the Ministry of Education issued guidelines for identification,  smooth  admission  process  and  continued  education  of  migrant  children  on 13.07.2020.  Guidelines for Children of Migrant Labours focus on providing admission to the in-migrant children in the nearby government schools without the requirement of submitting any document except an identity card.  As per these guidelines, the residential school students should also be provided temporary admission in schools nearby their homes, as they may not go back to their residential schools during COVID19.

To  ensure  that  children  have  access  to  education  with  quality  and  equity  and  to minimize the impact of the pandemic on school education in the country, the Department of School Education has prepared and issued detailed guidelines on 7th January, 2021, on the steps to be taken by the States and UTs. The guidelines, among others, include identification of out of school children from age 6-18 years, enrolment drives and awareness generation, student  support  while  schools  are  closed,  continued  Education  for  children  with  Special Needs  (CWSN),  student  support  on  school  reopening  and  Teacher  capacity  building.  The Department of School Education and Literacy vide letter dated 4th May, 2021 has shared a comprehensive Covid Action plan with States/UTs and other stakeholders for mitigating the loss of learning. This Department has also developed an online module for compiling the data of  Out  of  School  children  identified  by  each  State/UT  and  their  mapping  with  Special Training Centres (STC) on the PRABANDH Portal (http://samagrashiksha.in).

- (e) Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under  the  domain  of  the  respective  State  and  UT  Government  which  is  the  appropriate government under the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. The  RTE Act, 2009 effective from 1st April, 2010 is applicable to all States and UTs and mandates the appropriate Government to provide free and compulsory elementary education to every child of  the  age  6  to  14  years  in  a  neighbourhood  school.  Ministry  of  Education  issues  various advisories/guidelines to all the States/UTs to ensure the implementation of all the provisions of  the  RTE  Act,  2009  in  all  the  schools  (including  Private  Schools)  in  their  respective jurisdiction  from  time  to  time.  Further  the  National  Education  Policy  (NEP)  2020  aims  to make it easier for both governments as well as non-government philanthropic organisations to build schools, to encourage local variations on account of culture, geography and demographics, and to allow alternative models of Education.

(f) Based on the UDISE Plus report 2019-20, 22% schools had access to internet. The Government  has  taken  various steps  to  provide  online  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

Further,  to  improve  the  internet  connectivity  in  rural  areas  the  CSC  e-Governance Services India Ltd (CSC-SPV) of MEITY has been assigned the task of providing Fiber to the Home (FTTH) connectivity to the Government Institutions, including schools.

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