Annual Education Report of Bengal: Lower Income Students Suffer Due to Digitalisation

According to the Latest report of the Annual Status of Education (ASER), the most affected state of India during the pandemic is West Bengal. Children from Bengal, especially rural households, have been affected the most. Not all children have access to mobile phones and laptops for online classes. Lack of smartphones, stable internet connection, and non-academic distractions lead to the dynamic gap between the privileged and underprivileged.   

Following those for Karnataka and Chhattisgarh, the ASER report for West Bengal shows how wide the achievement gap between children from privileged and impoverished families has become. Bengal's already low levels of achievement have gotten worse. The only way out of this situation is by focusing on teaching from the level they left instead of following the grade-level curriculum. 

Concentrating on filling the gap is critical, using strategies that allow all students to catch up to the grade level within a set amount of time. It will be necessary to enhance the teacher-student ratio. Due to home income losses during the pandemic, many youngsters have begun working, and young girls have been married off. 

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Impact of Digitalisation on Financially Strained Families 

According to a National Statistical Office report from 2019, only 24% of urban families in India have access to smartphones, electronic devices, and internet connectivity. Only 4% of rural households have such resources. Another report by Niti Aayog from 2018 reports that more than 55,000 Indian villages don't have mobile connectivity. Furthermore, a Ministry of Rural Development study in 2017-18 reports that around 36% of schools don't have an electricity connection, and only 4% of people in such areas use mobile phones with an internet connection. 

Children from financially strained families are most likely to drop out of school and start working alongside their parents to become an extra-earning family member.  

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