Education In Semi Urban India
AC era
“I can’t hear you. Your voice is breaking”
“Is my screen visible?”
Well, Folks!! you are not alone. Welcome to the AC (after corona) era guys.
This era has created a ruckus where every sector across the nation has taken a big blow in the economy. Every day we wake up to the news of stock market crashes and employees laid off. There are few exceptions like the ed-tech companies, who have gained aggressive momentum in this AC era.
Lots of educational websites and apps have helped students overcome these testing times with their structured course materials and live practice sessions.
But to the bleaker side of it, not all students are privileged enough to access these technologies and hone their skills. The pandemic has put the spotlight on the ever-increasing imbalances in school education.
Citing data from the National Sample Survey (NSS) report on ‘Key Indicators of Household Social Consumption on Education in India 2017-18.
Amongst all the challenges for ‘Education for All’ initiative, the survey said the composition of various components of expenditure on education indicates that the course fees, which is 50.8 per cent at all India level is the major contributing factor.
Although the survey dates back to 2018 the situation has only got worse in post pandemic scenario. Find more about the survey here : Education In rural India
Some of the major challenges that can be enlisted in this context are:
- Digital Infrastructural Support: Digital infrastructure and support are prominent hurdles that come in the way of enabling online education in the semi urban regions of India. Majority of the semi urban population still does not have the required internet bandwidth or even the knowledge to understand digital terminologies and devices.
- Increased cost of Content Consumption: While we look at the domain of digital learning, there are few fixed requirements like a laptop, a good internet connection etc. Not a lot of people in rural India have access to laptops or computers and phone screens are not conducive to long learning hours. Even if there is access to desktops or laptops, there arises another issue of internet access and the costs that are incurred in the process. Data packs and their costs can be a big deterrent both for teachers as well as learners, especially for live classes.
- Lack of Skills: Lack of skills among tutors in semi urban areas to use digital platforms can be seen as another notable factor that affects the spread of digital education. Since the teachers themselves are not trained to use digital platforms, it becomes hard to implement methods of online education.
- Language Concerns: About 85% of the Indian population does not speak English. People understand local dialect easily. Lack of availability of quality content in regional languages also causes a slow rate of adoption of such online courses.
“To become more expert in reading and writing is not education, without habits, behaviors and common sense, there is no education at all”
Although there are NGOs and other welfare organisations who are working for the cause, I found cloudmasterji to be doing exactly that is the need of the hour.
- Their line of courses range from basic computer education to front end development, hacking, growth-hack.
- They are providing free training to the local teachers and making them ready to work in the new AC era.
- They have set the prices in a way that for the needy the education is absolutely free. They have placed man over money.
- They also come with internship opportunities to the deserved candidates.
“To become more expert in reading and writing is not education, without habits, behaviors and common sense, there is no education at all”. This is the motto behind their success. Don’t you guys think it is our responsibility as citizens to contribute towards the society? Let’s join hands and do a little bit to help reach education to the students living in the nooks and corner of this world.
As they say “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today“.
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