Impact of Pandemic on School Education in India

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic followed by the economic crisis it triggered has set off an alarm for generations to come. This chapter bases itself on inductive qualitative research, using both secondary and primary data to express the concerns in school education in India. This chapter has three parts. The first part discusses the existing vulnerability of school children in the Indian context. The second part focuses on the pandemic’s impact on the academic progress of school children, especially the socio-economically vulnerable ones; it substantiates the claim with the help of primary data analysis that the impact of the pandemic on children’s schooling and academic engagement may lead to enhanced vulnerability. In this context, the limitations of policy interventions and possible scope for the future with a special focus on the Right to Education (RTE) Act and National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 are highlighted. The third part illustrates a possible intervention designed using the program theory approach to indicate a viable way out to overcome the crisis associated with children’s lack of academic progress caused by the pandemic.