Assam can't afford to lose an academic year

With the lockdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic heading towards entering its phase five, it has now
Assam can't afford to lose an academic year

With the lockdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic heading towards entering its phase five, it has now become evidently clear that educational institutions are going to remain shut for another one month or so. Since the nationwide lockdown began in the fourth week of March schools and colleges have remained across India, with a UNESCO estimate saying nearly 321 million children in the country children have remained at home. In Assam, government schools up to the plus-2 stage have about 50 lakh students who are technically children because they are all below 18 years of age. There would be another about 10 lakh students in private schools, while the number of those studying in various kinds of colleges – including medical, engineering, law, polytechnics, etc – would be anywhere around five lakh. These students simply cannot afford to lose a valuable academic year. Several lakh students of Assam had in 1980-81 lost one such valuable academic year, leading to an irreparable loss to almost every family of the state. But the current situation is such that one cannot take the risk of sending their children to school for fear of being infected by the deadly virus. It was only recently that the Assam government had announced that it was trying to ensure academic year for students is not lost. State Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had a couple of weeks ago even sought ideas and innovations to discuss ways to ensure that academic year is not lost. But, while the government had introduced online education for the students, what the ground reality is that a large number of students who belong to the lower economic strata have been almost entirely left out. The reason is simple – the parents who earn their living as daily-wagers, or as casual employees, or who are petty traders and vendors, simply cannot afford to give their children an android mobile phone. The government, and especially those officers who run the state education department, do not appear to be aware of this situation. The All Assam Students' Union, All Bodo Students' Union and other student bodies should urgently take up this issue. Leaders of most political parties in the state, most of whom have failed to play any significant role in providing succour to the poor and underprivileged people, are anyway not expected to understand such issues, especially because children do not have voting rights. The AASU however must be appreciated for having stated in clear terms that there can be no loss of an academic year and that the government must find out ways to prevent such a situation. 

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