The Debilitating Effect of School Closures

Various agencies have made substantiative attempts to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different sectors of the Indian economy. However, one important area where such efforts have lagged behind is education. Though many studies have outlined the effect of the pandemic on learning at the micro level, no substantial attempts have been made to assess the overall impact of the pandemic on the education sector nationally.

Fortunately, this apathy of the union and state governments has now been remedied, at least partially, by the recent Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2021. The report, based on an extensive survey of rural households across the country, investigates the impact of COVID-19 on the enrolment patterns, incidence of tuitions, availability of learning material, and children’s access to education. It highlights the debilitating effect of the pandemic on school education in rural areas.