Syllabus: GS2 – Education, govt policies and interventions
Source: The Hindu – Data point 22/08/2023
Context: The Recent ‘ State of Elementary Education in Rural India ‘ report by the Ministry of Education underscored the increased usage of smartphones among children.
Content
‘State of Elementary Education in Rural India’ report
- The ‘State of Elementary Education in Rural India’ report is based on data accumulated from 6,229 rural households across 20 states.
- The study was focused on children in rural communities between the age of 6 to 16 years.
Findings from the survey
- The survey revealed that 49.3 % students have access to smartphones in rural India.
- Out of which, only 34 % use it for study downloads and 18 % of students access online learning via tutorials.
- The report shows that school children spend most of their screen time playing games, watching movies or listening to songs.
- This trend can be also viewed as a promising opportunity where education meets entertainment.
Other important findings
- 78% parents of girls in rural areas want to educate their children to graduation and above and 82% parents of boys in rural areas want to educate their children.
Primary school dropouts
- According to the survey, one-fourth of male children dropped out of school during primary schooling.
- The dropout rate at this stage was higher for female children at nearly 35 per cent.
- The main reasons for girls and boys to dropout of school during primary schooling is shown below (based on parents opinion).
- Nearly 75 percent boys and 65 percent girls dropped out of school after completing primary school education.
- The main reason for this can be non-availability of schools with higher classes within the village or nearby villages
Parents with and without education
- Among parents who never went to school, 28.7 percent regularly inquire about school education, while 25.1 percent rarely or never do so.
- In contrast, 46.3 percent of parents with education above higher secondary actively follow up on their child’s education regularly, with only 4 percent rarely engaging in their child’s education.
Supervision of parents
- A total of 64.2 percent of the children were under the supervision of their mothers when it came to studies.
- About 50.2 percent of the children were supervised by their fathers .
Challenges in rural education
- Limited financial resources: Education is often seen as an expense rather than an investment, leading to low prioritization.
- Poverty: Students in rural areas often lack access to proper school education due to Poverty.
- Poor infrastructure and faculty: Rural schools often lack basic learning tools and qualified teachers, leading to a poor quality of education.
- Gender inequality: Girls in some rural areas are not allowed to attend school or pursue higher education.
- Technology gap: While technology can help overcome these challenges, implementing e-learning platforms and advanced learning tools in rural India faces its own set of challenges.
Govt Initiatives
- The Indian government has launched many initiatives such as Samagra Shiksha, Jahawar Navodaya Vidyalaya, mid-day meal schemes, digital initiatives etc. to increase the enrolment rate and also to encourage the already enrolled students to attend regularly.
Way forward
- The quality of education in rural areas can be improved by providing better infrastructure, training teachers, and providing adequate learning materials.
- The government can work with NGOs and private organizations to improve the quality of education in rural areas.
Related Topics
The superpower of OTT platforms
- Over-the-top (OTT) platforms are web-based services that offer video and audio streaming content. Eg:Netflix,Amazon prime
- Traditional media consumption has increasingly transitioned to OTT platforms, which have the ability to make meaningful contributions to reading literacy and language learning.
| Possibilities of OTT for children | Concerns of OTT |
| provide a wide range of educational content for children, including e-books, audio books, and quizzes. | Excessive use of these platforms can have negative psychological effects on young people eg: addiction,social isolation,poor mental health |
| Scope for edutainment as an amalgamation of entertainment and education within the larger kids content market. | Can cause sleep disturbances for children |
| Parents can monitor their children’s use of these platforms and ensure that they are using them safely and responsibly. | OTT platforms from tracking or monitoring the behavior of children or promoting targeted advertising to them. |
| Provide easy access to the content | Children who spend more than 2 hours per day on screens are more likely to have emotional, social, and attention problems. |
| Provide cost effective quality content for children | Sedentary activities can contribute to obesity |
Reference