The nationwide lockdown in India has disrupted the education system quite significantly: schools closed down completely, exams have been postponed, and entrance tests for undergraduate and postgraduate studies have also been halted. While some private educational institutions were able to respond to this lockdown swiftly by setting up online classes for their students, many government schools and colleges were not able to do so. Moreover, a significant proportion of the population lives in rural areas of the country, where Internet and electricity are not regular, and are hence unable to access online resources. A catch-22 arises because many economically disadvantaged students are unable to appear for exams conducted online, but cancelling them altogether means that their participation in the workforce will be delayed. The pandemic has also exacerbated dropout rates from schools. Before the lockdown, there was already a wide gap in access to education – financial disruptions in families often meant that the children were made to drop out of school and enter the workforce to provide additional monetary support. School dropouts are even higher for girls as well as people belonging to religious and caste communities that are marginalised. The closure and lack of access to schools are also likely to have an impact on the health outcomes of these students. Programs such as the Mid-Day Meal initiative and the ICDS scheme, which were their primary source of nutrition, are no longer accessible to many.
