Online education is ‘not an option for all’ in India: UNICEF

NEW DELHI: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in a statement, said that online education in India is not an option for all children as only one in four have access to digital devices and internet connectivity.

A report by UNICEF also states that before COVID-19 only a quarter of households (24%) in India had access to the internet before the pandemic.

The report further pointed to the large rural-urban divide and gender divide as challenges for online education.

“School closures have devastating consequences for children’s learning and wellbeing. The most vulnerable children and those unable to access remote learning are at an increased risk of never returning to the classroom, and even being forced into child marriage or child labor,” the UNICEF report said.

“We know that the longer children stay out of school, the more vulnerable they become, with less chances of returning to school. Any decision to reopen schools is made with the best interests of children in mind,” said Dr Yasmin Ali Haque, UNICEF India Representative

“As schools re-open in a staggered manner with children returning to their classrooms, we must strive to support them in catching up on the learning they have missed,” he added.

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