Hoping for the best amid pandemic

 PC THOMAS

Coronavirus has apparently created massive financial disproportions in humans from all walks of life. What is even more worried is the striking reality that many lives are falling into poverty, particularly from the lower middle class that includes skilled labours, hawkers and workers. With the earning hands shifted to jobless or endured pay cuts, many families are finding it hard to cope with things in their life, which ultimately affected the education of their children.  

Recently, media reported a Class-X student of Indore allegedly ended his life as he had no means to pay his outstanding fees which was forcefully demanded by his school authorities. In another report, a man who was rendered jobless due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, hanged himself at Kanpur in UP. In July, media reported, children in about 62% households discontinued their education amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Suicide Cases during Corona Lockdown in India are many.

Numerous reports also came to light showing that many parents are very much hard-pressed to maintain the education of their children due to their job loss. Many unaided parents have been forced to sell their valuable resources for buying the gadgets for the virtual education of their children, driving them further into poverty.  

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Obviously, the pandemic crisis has led to a massive spike in the unemployment rate of the country. A latest report of the CMIE revealed worrisome data, which says more than 1.8-Cr salaried employees lost their jobs in India since April, followed by one lakh job losses in May.  

As a result, education is mainly undergoing a severe predicament at the moment. Presumably, schools and college campuses will be shut through 2020 due to an increasing number of COVID cases. In the midst, the shift of classroom experience to virtual platform has highlighted digital disparities, exposing vast tracts with internet connectivity problems. Parents find it difficult to pay for laptops, iPads, smart-phones or the data packs for their children to log into online classes.

While everybody suffers differently, it is of serious concern, how can common people or unemployed parents survive? When and how the economy will recover?  As far as school authorities are concerned, how can they ensure the security and wellbeing of students, teachers and staff? How do they discipline students? How can they protect teachers? How do they revamp classroom experiences? Can parents afford to pay school fees without job? Can institutions afford to pay teachers without students?   There are many unanswered questions.

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The crisis has revealed that hoping for the best does not help us. On the other hand, we must plan for the worst and hope for the best. The time is ripe that governments should vehemently address this issue – Save our souls and save our States is the weep of people. All state Governments must prioritize the most deprived children and their families through significant social protection schemes including child benefits, remote learning opportunities, healthcare services and generate more and better quality jobs for people to survive. It is also significant that each State and districts have a plan for how to ensure that the pandemic does not derail the aspirations and achievements of this generation of students.