Supriya Gupta, a Grade 5 student, helps serve customers at her father’s small restaurant
Lucknow:
The coronavirus pandemic has taken a heavy toll on children in Uttar Pradesh from Saharanpur to Sonbhadra – 1,058 km apart, with schools closed for more than four months now.
Students in large private schools have started learning online and the UP government is also encouraging electronic content for its students. But for thousands of children from poor and marginalized backgrounds, smartphones or 4G internet are just dreams.
“If the kids don’t study how are they going to get on in life? I want them to continue their education but I don’t have the money. I feel so helpless,” sobs Mohammad Ilyas, 42, a mason from the west of UP Saharanpur who was earning 10,000 rupees a month before the pandemic. He now runs a samosa stand with his eldest son, Mohammad Chand, 12.
Mr. Ilyas’ income has fallen to just Rs 3,000 per month. Before COVID-19, he sent his son to an Urdu middle school near his slum. For 4 months now, the boy has spent all his time helping his father at the stall.
“I spend my days at the store and help my father. If there is money, I will go back to my school otherwise I don’t know. I want to continue my studies, ”says Chand.
Mohammad Chand, 12, helps his dad run a samosa stand now
Uttar Pradesh has India’s largest child population according to the 2011 census, but the pandemic is likely to hamper already dire education figures.
According to government data, 63% of the state’s 2 lakh-plus schools are run by the government, but more students are enrolled in private schools than in public schools. UP has one teacher per 31 students – in Maharashtra this figure is one teacher per 22 students. For Class 5, a reference year, UP has a dropout rate of 21.67%, unlike a state like Tamil Nadu which has a dropout rate of 1.37% for Class 5.
Schools have been closed for four months now due to the coronavirus pandemic
Once the pandemic subsides and schools reopen, students will have a lot to catch up on. From being immersed in books in the remote town of Wyndhamganj in Sonbhadra, or helping serve customers at his father’s little restaurant outside the town train station, the past four months have been very difficult. for Supriya Gupta, 11, a class 5 student at a private school, and her father Ajay whose income has fallen significantly due to the pandemic.
“We had work at the store earlier but my dad had to let them go. We don’t have enough to eat for ourselves how are we going to pay for them? My school is not open, online courses do not work in small towns because there is no suitable mobile network and that is a problem, ”Supriya says.
“I had hoped earlier that the online classes would start and that the children would not need to go to school in the midst of the pandemic. But how will it be? There’s no proper mobile network, it’s not even worth 2G speed, so how does a child learn when you can’t call a teacher home? “adds Ajay Gupta.
