BENGALURU: With a study by the Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT) revealing that up to 30 per cent of students in the State have fallen out of learning and academic activities due to closure of schools through the pandemic, Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar on Monday said academic activities ahead will be planned after scrutinising the report submitted by Dr Devi Shetty, head of a high-level committee on preventing Covid third wave, to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday.
Dr Shetty has been in favour of proactive steps to salvage the situation for students and to mitigate the damage already done to their academics and learning processes. Kumar said he knows that Dr Shetty’s report includes school activities being planned ahead. The education department will get its hands on the report and scrutinise it before taking any decision, he added.
He cited the DSERT study to emphasise the damage caused to students through the pandemic, which had forced schools shut and pressured students to take to online classes despite many not having the infrastructure. Especially for rural students, it has been a herculean task as they face connectivity and power issues, he added.
Solve internet issues: Kumar writes to CM
“Students are sitting on hills to access the internet. Parents have held umbrellas for their children during rain just for online classes,” he said.In the light of DSERT study, there is a greater need to ensure that children are not left out of education this year (2021-22) due to infrastructure problems or otherwise, he said.
To implement the National Education Policy 2020 and prepare an outline for classroom teaching, a focus group has been suggested, he said, adding that DSERT has been given the responsibility to ensure an appropriate technological platform. Kumar said that he has written to the Chief Minister appealing to him to hold a meeting with network operators to solve internet issues faced by rural students.