166k students in Delhi go missing as schools moved online
Over 166,000 students in Delhi’s government and municipal schools are missing, as an impact of education moving online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The number is roughly 8.5% of the students enrolled in the Capital’s schools.
The data collected from the education department of Delhi and civic bodies that run the municipal schools, shows that these children have simply fallen off the map, and the schools say they can’t trace them.
Government officials and school authorities say the migration of thousands of families to their home states during and after the lockdown, and the sudden shift to online education are the main reasons for this. While schools have already reopened for classes 10 and 12 last month, they have been allowed to call in students of classes 9 and 11 from February 5.
Officials at North MCD’s education department said around 20% of the 290,000 students enrolled across 714 schools could not be reached despite several attempts over the past 10 months. In schools run by the south civic body, around 15% of the 284,000 students in 581 schools can’t be reached. And in schools run by the east municipal corporation, around 20% (33,600) of the 168,000 students enrolled in 365 schools are completely out of touch.
According to assessments by Unicef, over 460 million children across the world were unable to access remote learning tools last year. The UN has called on countries to ensure a generation of children do not lose out an education due to the pandemic.
166k students in Delhi go missing as schools moved online
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