RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Sept.6: A recent survey of nearly 1,400 school children in underprivileged households brings out the catastrophic consequences of prolonged school closure in the last one and a half years.
In rural areas, only 8% of sample children are studying online regularly, 37% are not studying at all, and about half are unable to read more than a few words. Most parents want schools to reopen as soon as possible.
The survey was done by 100 volunteers associated with Road Scholarz and its report co-ordination team included Jean Dreze, Nirali Baxla, Vipul Paikra and Ritika Kheda.
Road Scholarz is a group of freelance scholars and student volunteers interested in action-oriented research, socio-economic rights and related issues. It regularly conducts similar field surveys to evaluate the functioning of various welfare schemes in India. These are often followed up by public hearings and social audits.
Close to 1,400 households (defined as nuclear families) were interviewed. About 60% of the sample households reside in rural areas, and close to 60% belong to Dalit or Adivasi communities
(SC/ST in the tables). Four states account for about half of the sample. The states include Delhi, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The sample children are more or less evenly distributed by gender and grade.
In Jharkhand, 214 houses were surveyed. Out of 214, 182 were in rural areas while the remaining 32 were in urban areas.
The entire report is available on roadscholarz.net.
