National Assessment Survey lays out post-Covid challenges. Teacher- and student-centred approaches are needed

News: A study commissioned by the Centre, the National Assessment Survey (NAS), details the magnitude of the learning crisis during the pandemic across the country.

Conducted in November 2021 among students of more than one lakh schools in 720 districts, the NAS shows a sharp dip in the performance of students in almost all subjects during the pandemic years.

The Union education ministry has said that the NAS data will help states in taking remedial measures, both short-term and long-term.

What is the learning crisis that developed during the pandemic?

India witnessed one of the longest school closures in the world.

For the better part of the past two years, teachers struggled to cope with the pedagogical challenges posed by the switch to online classes.

The country’s digital divide proved to be a hurdle for a large number of underprivileged learners.

Field reports by private agencies and state government bodies have indicated that this disruption resulted in an alarming regression in children’s foundational skills — reading, writing, doing simple mathematics.

– The NAS 2021 report reveals that the breakdown affected even states that traditionally do well on educational parameters. The average scores of Delhi’s Class V students in mathematics, for instance, were well below the national average.

What are some challenges that need to be overcome?

The pandemic seems to have put on the back-burner the implementation of school education reforms envisaged by the NEP.

Funds for training teachers have been slashed by nearly 50% in the current budget

The outlay for the Mid-Day Meal Scheme — whose positive impact on school enrollment, student retention and nutrition of children is well-documented — has come down by almost 10%.

Instead, there seems to be an over-reliance on e-learning. But as the NAS shows, these methods cannot be a substitute for the interactions in a classroom.

What needs to be done?

The first step should be to acknowledge that children are returning to schools with diminished skills, as well as recognise that some learners may have experienced more setbacks than their peers.

Planners and school administrators should give teachers the freedom to adopt creative approaches that turn classrooms into spaces where students can shed the anxieties of the past two years and regain skills at their own pace.

– This would require re-imagining pedagogical practices and a shift from syllabus-centred approaches of the past to learner-centric methods. The New Education Policy 2020, announced in the first year of the pandemic, recognises this imperative.

Way forward

Several studies, including the annual ASER reports, have underlined that most of the failings of the country’s educational system arise from the lack of connect between the lived experiences of most students and what is taught in classrooms.

The pandemic-induced crisis is an opportunity to take corrective measures. Failure to do so will endanger the academic future of an entire generation.

Source: This post is based on the article “National Assessment Survey lays out post-Covid challenges. Teacher- and student-centred approaches are needed” published in The Indian Express on 27th May 22.