(Image source from: ibtimes.com)

According to a survey, 80 percent of government school teachers have not received any training to teach the students.

A survey was conducted by Oxfam India which found out that 80 percent of the government school going students have not received any education ever since the pandemic has erupted and only 20 percent of the teaching staff were trained to teach the students.

The study is based on the responses of 1158 parents across private and government schools in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

The study was also conducted on 488 government school teachers based on interviews conducted between May to July 2020.

According to the study, every 8 out of 10 parents reported that their children enrolled in government schools did not receive education during the lockdown period.

However, in Bihar, 100 percent of the government school students did not receive the education they need ever since the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite the Supreme Court’s order to ensure supply of mid day meals to government school children, only 65 percent of students in all the 5 states combinedly received their meals.

92 percent of the students in Uttar Pradesh were deprived of the mid day meals according to the study.

Over 75 percent of the parents who enrolled their government school going children in online classes have reported problems in internet connectivity and inability to afford data connections which created hurdles in the online learning.

In Jharkhand, over 40 percent of the parents said that they have no right to access online education or carry electronic devices for their children.

Of the 20 percent of the students who have received an education during these challenging times said that they have relied on WhatsApp and telephonic calls with teachers to continue their education.

The survey also pointed out that 2 out of every 5 teachers did not have access to electronic devices to teach the children online.

Uttar Pradesh had 80 percent of such teachers while Jharkhand had 67 percent of them respectively.

In Bihar, only 5 percent of the teachers have received training on how to teach online classes to children.

According to the study, around 80 percent of students of the government schools did not receive their academic textbooks which has directly led to a lack of education for these students during the lockdown as they are left with no material to study.

Moreover, 39 percent of the parents in Bihar had to pay hiked fees for the government schools to admit their children into the next academic year.

Meanwhile, in Odisha, the state which had no clear instructions on reopening of schools, the parents of the government school students had to pay for uniforms, books and others despite the schools being closed.

By Gayatri Yellayi