Impact of Covid-19 on School Education with special focus on SC students

Findings of a Rapid Phone Survey

Submitted to

Scheduled Castes Development Department (SCDD) Government of Telangana

Submitted by

SCSDF Research Unit CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STUDIES N.O. Campus, Begumpet, Hyderabad – 500 016 Web: www.cess.ac.in, email: [email protected] Phone: 040-23402789, 23416780, fax: 040-23406808

December 2020 Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana

CONTENTS

Page

1. The Backdrop 4 2. Methodology 4 TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES 3. Did schools complete the syllabus prior to the lockdown? 6 4. What did teachers do during school closures? 6 5. Modes and extent of teaching support extended by teachers 8 6. Support provided to students and teachers’ outlook 9 7. Challenges of remote teaching and its impact on different 10 student groups 8. Teachers’ perspectives on the impact of school closures and 12 their preparedness for reopening

STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES 9. Occupational profile of student households 12 10. Students’ access to digital devices 13 11. Levels of access to remote learning during the school closures 14 12. Factors reported by students for not accessing remote teaching 16 13. Access to digital devices and remote learning by gender and 18 level of schooling 14. Key challenges confronted by students in accessing online 19 teaching 15. Is it difficult to learn certain subjects through remote modes of 20 teaching? 16. Online teaching no substitute for class-room teaching 21 17. Food-related constraints resulting from school closures 22 18. Likely impacts of extension of school closures 23 19. Post-survey developments: An update 23

2 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This report contains the findings of a rapid phone survey carried out by the Scheduled Castes Special Development Fund Research Unit of CESS. The survey was conducted during the peak (early August) of the Covid-19 pandemic when the norms and restrictions were still in place. The team from the SCSDF Research Unit rose to the occasion to conduct this phone survey amid challenging circumstances with the initiation of our Director.

Since this is a follow-up study, we had the benefit of rapport and the contact details of teachers and principals/head masters of the sample schools under different managements. We had to make repeated phone calls to each sample respondent. The interactions mostly took place through prior appointments with the respondent stakeholders – often at odd times – early morning or late evening. We are grateful to all the respondents for their co-operation during the survey. Prof Revathi, and Dr Prudhvikar Reddy provided inputs to the survey design and analysis. S Harinath, P Anjaneyulu, K Bhaskar and S Naresh from the SCSDF research unit participated in the phone survey. Dr D Sreeramaraju provided the technical assistance in preparing the tables. We are thankful to them for the support received in the completion of the report.

S Laxman Rao Head, SCSDF Research Unit CESS

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1. THE BACKDROP

The Government of Telangana clamped a state-wide lockdown on March 20 this year in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak – prior to the nation-wide lockdown imposed by the Central Government on 25 March. In Telangana the lockdown was extended in phases until May 25. But in June the lockdown restrictions began to be rolled back in phases amid growing number of Coronavirus positive cases across the nation. As part of the lockdown all the educational institutions in Telangana remained closed and the closures continued until the end of 2020. In fact the pandemic struck even before the schools and colleges could complete teaching and conduct the final examinations for the academic session 2019-20.

The SCSDF Research Unit of CESS conducted a rapid phone survey (in view of the Covid-19 protocols and restrictions) during the first half of August, 2020 to map the impact of Covid-19 on high school education in the State amid the unprecedented circumstances characterized by - school closures, absence of the regular face-to-face teaching, apprehensions about loss of learning, exploration of alternative methods of reaching out to students (such as remote teaching) and weighing of different options in deciding the status of “Corona batch” (academic year 2020-21) in general.1

The core objectives of the study include: (1) To understand how prepared the school managements were to tackle the pandemic-induced challenges. (2) To assess the impact of Covid-19 school closures on students’ learning. (3) How prepared the students were to adapt to remote teaching methods. (4) To assess the impact of school closures on different vulnerable social groups, with special reference to Scheduled Caste students. (5) To document the challenges encountered by students and teachers in switching over to digital learning/teaching.

2. METHODOLOGY

This phone survey is a follow-up study2; it covers schools under five different management types under the Government of Telangana. The survey covers a half (15) of the total sample of 30 schools covered by the previous study on the performance of SC students vis-a-vis others under five managements. The rapport established and the contact details collected by CESS during the previous study helped it greatly in conducting this phone survey. The present phone survey covered schools under the following five managements:

1 Schools remained closed at the time of writing this report – December 2020. 2 The previous study compared the performance of SC students vis-à-vis other students in schools governed by different managements. It found that the academic performance of SC students in the core subjects is lower than that of the other students under all management types (ZPSSs, TREIS and TSWREIS). Moreover, within the SC category the SC students of TREIS (general residential) schools fared better than their counterparts studying in schools under ZPSSs and TSWREIS managements. 4 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana

1. Zilla Parishad Secondary Schools (ZPSSs) 2. Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS) 3. Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TTWREIS) 4. Telangana Residential Educational Institutions Society (TREIS or “general residential”) 5. Telangana Tribal Welfare Ashram Schools (ashram schools)

The management-wise schools covered by the study are presented in table 1. They are spread across five erstwhile districts of the State consisting of co-educational, boys and girls schools. The sample schools are, therefore, representative in terms of geography, governance types and student composition. Schools under all managements have English as the medium of instruction – except ashram schools which have both English and Telugu media.

Table 1: Schools covered by the rapid phone study

Erstwhile ZPSSs TREIS TSWREIS TTWREIS ASHRAM Districts SCHOOLS Porandla Peddapur Chintakunta Marrimadla 1 Karimnagar (Co-Ed) Camp (B) (G) (B) Siddapur Bandarupally Rayaparthy Kothaguda 2 Warangal (Co-Ed) (B) (G) (G) Mahabub Jadcherla Wanaparthy Madhanapur Wanaparthy Kalwakurthy 3 nagar (Co-Ed) (G) (B) (B) (B) Kerameri 4 Adilabad (G) Palwancha 5 Khammam (B) TOTAL 3 3 3 3 3

The respondent sample consists of school heads (principals/head masters) and teachers; and students. All heads of sample schools and five teachers from each sample school were covered. As for the student sample, 16 students were selected from each sample school. Thus the sample consists of 90 heads/teachers and 240 students in all. The student sample was drawn from 9th and 10th classes, given the importance of these grades in secondary education, particularly in the context of the prolonged disruptions caused to the normal academic activities. It may be stated here that the students of schools under five governance types covered under this survey belong predominantly to the vulnerable and historically disadvantaged social groups – Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes (the student sample comprises respondents belonging to these three social groups).

5 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana

Table 2: Sample details of students and school heads

Principals/HMs Teachers Students Management (one per school) (5 per school) (16 per school) ZPSSs 3 15 48 TSWREIS 3 15 48 TREIS 3 15 48 TTWREIS 3 15 48 ASHRAM SCHOOLS 3 15 48 Total 15 75 240

Each of the two respondent groups – teachers and students – was administered a set of questions related to the impact of Covid-induced school closures. The findings of the survey are, accordingly, presented in two sections covering the perspectives of the two stakeholder groups.

3. TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES

3.1. Did the schools complete the syllabus prior to the school closures?

Summated responses from the school heads and teachers indicate that overall 64% of the schools completed their syllabus prior to the pandemic-induced school closures. And the remaining third of the schools completed up to 90% of the academic portion. The general residential schools lagged behind on this front with only 45% of them reported to have covered the syllabus completely. It may be recalled here that the abrupt lockdown was declared during the fag-end of the academic year in March, 2020.

3.2. What did the principals/teachers do during the Covid-19 school closures?

Across the spectrum of the schools covered by the survey, a majority of teachers (62%) were involved in preparations for different modes of remote teaching such as compiling or preparing educational material and videos, and were learning how to continue teaching through different remote methods and technologies. The rest of the teachers (38%) were not actively involved in activities related to online or remote teaching; instead they were preparing themselves for regular face-to-face teaching expecting that the schools would reopen soon.

The Social Welfare and the Tribal Welfare residential schools were far ahead of other schools (ZPSSs, general residential and ashram schools) in terms of the preparedness for online teaching as close to 80% of the teachers were involved in preparatory activities related to remote modes of teaching. By contrast, the teachers of ZPSSs were least prepared for embracing technology for remote ways of reaching out 6 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana to the students with only a third of the teachers reported to be engaged in preparatory activities.

Overall (across the different school managements), only 30% of the teachers and principals had previous experience or exposure to remote teaching through modes such as radio, online, TV and WhatsApp. To a follow-up question as to whether they received any guidance or training on how to support students’ learning during the school closures, 60% of the teachers across all the sample schools responded in the affirmative, saying that support was provided by the school management and the State Government; and the rest had not undergone any training or orientation programmes. The teachers of general residential schools and ZPSSs reported much lower levels of support or training for remote ways of teaching.

During the unprecedented Covid-induced school closures, the teachers were expected to be in touch with the students. The survey tried to ascertain this by asking the teachers whether they were in touch with their students. The response pattern is presented in figure 1 below. All the teachers of Ashram schools were in touch with their students; the other extreme are the teachers of ZPSSs – two-thirds of them were in touch with their students. The Social Welfare and the Tribal Welfare residential schools also fare better from which more than 90% of the teachers could reach out to their students during the pandemic period. Overall (all schools considered together) 86% of the teachers were in touch with their students.

Fig 1: Proportions of teachers/principals who were in touch with students during school closures

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3.3. Modes and extent of teaching support extended to students by teachers during the Covid-19 school shutdown

The question on everyone’s mind was how to reach out to students who were spread across the length and breadth of the state as the school closures were extended in the wake of the continued spread of Covid-19. This survey endeavoured to ascertain how the teachers of schools under different managements reached out to their students and the modes of teaching support provided to the students. The responses of teachers and principals in this regard are presented by management types in table 3.

Online teaching had limited reach as less than a quarter (22%) of teachers across the spectrum of managements were into this mode of teaching. ZPSSs and those under TREIS reported lowest levels of participation in online teaching (6%). By contrast Ashram schools and those under TSWREIS and TTWREIS returned much higher levels of teaching through online medium. When it comes to sharing pre-recorded lessons with students, the performance of TSWREIS, TTWREIS and Ashram schools was way higher than the performance of schools under other managements with ZPSSs returning the lowest level of participation followed by the schools under TREIS.

A similar pattern can be observed with respect to making phone and video calls to offer teaching support to students with a third of the teachers across the schools using this medium to stay in touch with students. WhatsApp was widely used by the teaching community during the Covid-induced school closures. Overall, three-fourths of the teachers representing all school managements relied on WhatsApp in order to extend pedagogic support to their students. Again, only a fourth of teachers from ZPSSs used WhatsApp as against 100%, 88% and 83% of their counterparts representing Ashram schools, social and tribal welfare residential schools, and general residential schools respectively.

It needs to be recalled here that the medium of television was extensively used to reach out to school children during the pandemic period. Pre-recorded academic programmes were telecast through T-SAT channel. As the responses from the teachers amply indicate TV was the leading medium of remote instruction as the highest proportions of teachers across the range of managements encouraged students to watch the educational content on TV. Except the teachers from ZPSSs, all the respondent teachers (100%) from other managements were motivating children to watch TV lessons while 60% of the ZPSS teachers were doing so.

YouTube was also leveraged by teachers to share educational video content with their students. The degree of YouTube use by teachers falls broadly into the same pattern as that of the TV mode. Close to 80% of the teachers across the different types of schools reported to have either used YouTube or encouraged students to access it for educational purposes. However, the percentage of ZPSS teachers who were doing so

8 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana was lower than the rest at 60%. Radio was not a medium of communication for obvious reasons – since people have upgraded to digital devices such as TVs, smart phones and computers.

Supply of text books was critical for continued learning during the school closures in that such resources can reach every student and their use is not constrained by either technological or financial factors. Distribution of text books had commenced just prior to this survey. The social welfare and tribal welfare residential schools were far ahead of other schools in the distribution of text books and other resources to students, followed by the general residential schools and Ashram schools and ZPSSs were lagging behind with regard to the supply of text books and other resources.

Table 3: Support provided to students by their schools by management type

Mode of teaching ZPSSs TSWREIS+ TREIS Ashram All TTWREIS schools Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Online classes or 5.6 94.4 28.6 71.4 5.6 94.4 50 50 22.2 77.8 teaching to students Recorded lessons to 17.6 82.4 88.1 11.9 61.1 38.9 75.0 25.0 67.4 32.5 students Phone or video calls 5.9 94.1 45.2 54.8 27.8 72.2 41.7 58.3 33.7 66.2 to students WhatsApp or text 23.5 76.5 88.1 11.9 83.3 16.7 100 0 76.4 23.6 messaging Lessons telecast on 58.8 41.2 100 0 100 0 100 0 92.1 7.87 TVs Encouraging 58.8 41.2 73.8 26.2 94.4 5.6 91.7 8.3 77.5 22.4 students to watch videos or lessons through YouTube? Encouraging 0 100 0 100 0 100 0 100 0 100 students to listen to lessons on the radio? Providing resources 35.3 64.7 85.7 14.3 50 50 0 100 57.3 42.7 like books, textbooks, worksheets, assignments? All figures are percentages, as reported by teachers.

3.4. Support provided to students and teachers’ outlook

More than 90% of the teachers across the different management types reported to have provided learning related support to student families during the school shutdown period. But disaggregated data shows that a much lower proportion of teachers from ZPSSs (60%) were extending help to their students while all the teachers of the remaining schools were involved in supporting their students. In terms of the actual 9 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana reach of the online teaching, the teachers reported that around 50% of the students were able to access the remote modes of teaching.

The survey also attempted to ascertain the teachers’ outlook on the prospects of whether the schools and the students would be able to deal with learning related challenges posed by the Corona pandemic. As the survey results laid out in table 4 below show, almost 85% of the respondent teachers representing all managements expressed different levels of confidence (“very confident” to “somewhat confident”) over the schools’ capacity to support students’ learning during the Covid-induced school closures. But the ZPSSs reported the lowest levels of confidence, that is, close to 40% of the teachers were not at all confident of extending learning support to students. By contrast, the Tribal Welfare and Social Welfare residential schools reported highest levels of confidence at 95%. Since this survey was carried out during the early stage of school closures more than 90% of the teachers reported varying levels of confidence that the students would be able to catch up with the learning lost due to school closures; however, the teachers of ZPSSs were less affirmative in this regard.

Table 4: Teachers’ confidence levels on dealing with pedagogic challenges

ZPSSs TSWREIS+ TREIS Ashram All TTWREIS schools Can the school support students’ learning during the school closures? Very confident 16.7% 31.0% 33.3% 16.7% 26.7% Somewhat confident 44.4% 64.3% 50.0% 66.7% 57.8% Not at all confident 38.9% 4.8% 16.7% 16.7% 15.6% Will students be able to catch up on any learning lost due to the school closures? Very confident 11.1% 33.3% 33.3% 16.7% 26.7% Somewhat confident 83.3% 57.1% 61.1% 83.3% 66.7% Not at all confident 5.6% 9.5% 5.6% 0.0% 6.7%

3.5. Challenges of remote teaching and its impact on different student groups

The survey also captured the anticipated challenges of teachers in delivering remote teaching to the students. The key challenges of virtual classes reported by the teachers are presented in the chart below. The constraints reported by relatively higher proportions of teachers include: students do not have reliable access to digital technology such as digital devices (smartphones and computers) and internet connectivity (25%); students have other responsibilities such as attending to domestic chores, taking care of siblings and supporting parents in economic activities (17%); students get little or no parental support for learning (13%); students do not have the skills that are needed to handle technology (11%); teachers do not have access to the technology that is needed for virtual modes of teaching (9%); almost a tenth of the teachers reported bottlenecks in distributing and collecting learning material such as 10 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana textbooks and worksheets; and low levels of motivation on the part of students was highlighted by a tenth of the respondents. Other reported difficulties include lack of skills on the part of teachers to handle technology and low motivation levels among teachers.

Fig 2: Challenging in delivering remote modes of teaching

It can be hypothesized that the impact of school closures on the learning outcomes is not uniform across the different student groups. In this context, teachers’ perspectives were captured by asking them which student groups are more likely to be adversely impacted by the school shutdowns. The results (presented in table 5) indicate that slow learners, students who are very poor, and those belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are likely to be disproportionately impacted by school closures. And according to teachers girls are more vulnerable than boys and BC students are least affected by the lack of regular schooling.

Table 5: Student groups that are more vulnerable to school closures

ZPSSs TSWREIS+ TREIS Ashram All TTWREIS schools Very poor students 34.0% 23.1% 20.0% 36.4% 26.6% Girls 10.6% 10.2% 2.2% 9.1% 8.6% Boys 10.6% 5.6% 4.4% 3.0% 6.0% Slow learners 19.1% 29.6% 35.6% 33.3% 29.2% Over-aged students 0 3.7% 6.7% 0 3.0% Students with disabilities 0 3.7% 0 0 1.7% ST students 12.8% 13.0% 13.3% 18.2% 13.7% SC students 10.6% 9.3% 15.6% 0 9.4% OBC students 2.1% 1.9% 2.2% 0 1.7%

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3.6. Teachers’ perspectives on the impact of school closures and their preparedness for reopening

All the respondent teachers, irrespective of the management type, were unanimously of the view that students’ learning would be adversely affected by school closures. Regarding the likelihood of students dropping out due to the extended school shutdowns, more than half (54%) of the teachers representing all management types returned an affirmative answer. But the replies fall into a pattern – the proportion is highest among the Ashram school teachers (90%), followed by ZPSS teachers with 61% and the lowest percentage of general residential school teachers (27%) reported the probability of dropouts.

With respect to the preparedness of the schools for reopening, only 30% of the teachers across the different managements reported that it would be possible for them to maintain physical distance and take all precautions to prevent the spread of Corona virus. But only 20% of the teachers of social and tribal welfare boarding schools were confident of observing the required precautions. Maintenance of hygienic conditions in the school premises is essential for preventing the spread of the pandemic. In the light of this, the teachers were asked whether their school will have basic facilities such as adequate water, sanitizer and soaps to maintain hygiene at the school. Overall, 70% of the teachers responded positively. However, the proportions of affirmative responses were lower among the teachers of ZPSSs and general residential schools (55%); by contrast, the teachers of Ashram schools and SW and TW residential schools reported higher levels of preparedness, 100% and 74% respectively.

Availability of functional toilets is critical for the prevention of Covid-19 transmission. The teachers were asked to report whether their schools have adequate number of usable toilets. A half of the responders representing the entire range of schools replied affirmatively. But the response pattern indicates that only 22% of teachers from ZPSSs reported adequate number of toilets, followed by 45% of SW and TW boarding schools, 56% of general residential schools and all (100%) of Ashram schools teachers reported adequate number of functional lavatories.

4. STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES

4.1. Occupational profile

At the outset the survey captured the livelihood profile of the student households by collecting data pertaining to the main occupation of the child’s father. This sets the backdrop for the study. Agriculture (46%) and farm and non-farm wage labour (20%) are the mainstay of the livelihoods of the student households, followed by different types of skilled and semi-skilled activities (17%) such as construction related work. Traditional occupations such as potter, carpenter and barber were reported only by BC

12 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana households. By contrast, petty business is widespread representing 5% of the student households across the social groups. Salaried employees working in government and private sectors represent nearly 6% of the households.

Table 6: Occupational profile of student households

STs SCs BCs All Agriculture 57.4 43.7 31.2 46.2 Wage labour (farm and non-farm) 27.7 14.0 15.6 20.3 Traditional occupation 0 0 14.9 5.0 Small business/trade/shop 2.0 5.6 9.4 5.1 Skilled worker 8.9 25.4 20.3 16.9 Salaried (govt+private) 4.0 10.0 3.1 5.6 All figures are percentages; “others” category of occupations not included.

4.2. Students’ access to digital devices

Access to digital devices on the part of students is a prerequisite for them to access remote modes of teaching that were rolled out during the school closures resulting from the spread of Covid-19. Overall (all social groups combined), 73% of the high school students reported owning a TV set; only BC students reported marginally lower levels of TV set ownership at 69%. By contrast, BC students have the highest proportion of smartphone ownership at 84%. At 64%, ST students have the lowest levels of smart phone ownership; and three-fourths of SC students have access to a smartphone. Most of the students who have a smart phone at home reported that they have regular access to it.

Less than a quarter of students (21%) who have no smartphones reported that their families can invest in a new smartphone, if need be. Less than 2% of the students have a laptop/desktop or a tablet at home indicating that smartphome was the most important means to access remote teaching. Only 17% of the students have Wi-Fi internet connectivity at home. But SC and BC students have higher levels of Wi-Fi internet connectivity at 22% and 23% respectively. Most of the students (82%) who have Wi-Fi are able to go online on their devices.

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Table 7: Students’ access to digital devices across social groups

STs SCs BCs All Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Have TV set at home 73.3 26.7 74.6 25.4 68.8 31.2 72.5 27.5 Have smartphone at home 64.4 35.6 74.6 25.4 84.4 15.6 72.9 27.1 Have regular access to 76.6 23.4 90.7 9.3 64.2 35.8 77.2 22.8 smartphone (for HHs with smartphone) Can your family invest in a 25.6 74.4 4.8 95.2 33.3 66.7 21.3 78.7 new smartphone (HHs without smartphone) Have a laptop/desktop or 0 100 2.8 97.2 1.6 98.4 1.3 98.7 tablet at home Have Wi-Fi internet 8.9 91.1 22.5 74.6 23.4 76.6 16.9 82.2 connection at home Able to access internet and 72.7 27.3 84.2 15.8 87.5 12.5 82.6 17.4 use devices with Wi-Fi (those with Wi-Fi) All figures are percentages

4.3. Levels of access to remote learning during the school closures

Remote modes of teaching were under early phase of implementation during the survey. The survey tried to gauge the degree of access realized by the learners. A half of the students representing all social groups could access online lessons or videos on their smartphones and other digital devices during the school closures caused by the Corona pandemic. BC students had the lowest level of access to online classes. The respondent learners reported lower levels of access to educational programmes on TV, mainly through T-SAT channel; SC students reported higher level of access (48%) compared to the average for all students (37%).

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Table 8: Levels of access to remote teaching/learning during Covid school closures by social groups (all figures are percentages)

STs SCs BCs All Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Watched lessons on smart 57.4 42.6 56.3 43.7 32.8 67.2 50.4 49.6 phone or other devices (including apps)? Watched lessons or videos 38.6 61.4 47.9 52.1 23.4 76.6 37.3 62.7 on TV such as T-SAT? Read or accessed new text 48.5 51.5 56.3 43.7 7.8 92.2 39.8 60.2 books, reading material, worksheets, etc? Attended tuitions or private 1.0 99.0 5.6 94.4 3.1 96.9 3.0 97.0 classes? Was the school 73.3 26.7 77.5 22.5 46.9 53.1 67.4 32.6 (principal/HM, teachers, et al) in touch with you?

Access to remote learning - % of students reporting “yes”

Overall, 40% of the learners reported access to the new text books and related material; by contrast, only 8% of BC students had access to text books and SC students reported the highest level of access to academic material at 56%. The proportion of students who chose alternative modes of learning such as tuitions and private classes was insignificant but SC pupils were marginally ahead of others in this respect (6%). Teachers’ support to students in the context of online teaching is critical for making their experience more effective and productive. But teachers were able to be in contact with 67% of the students of all social groups put together; but more than three-fourths (78%) of SC students reported that the teachers were in touch with them and the lowest level of school facilitation was returned by BC students at 47%.

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4.4. Factors reported by students for not accessing remote teaching

In a follow-up to the extent of access to distance learning discussed in the previous section, the students were asked to relate the key factors accounting for the inaccessibility to the learning opportunities. The proportions reported in the tables of this section refer to the subset of students who reported “no” to the different modes of remote learning presented in table 8 of the foregoing section.

The main constraint for not attending online classes was the lack of access to digital devices such as smartphones and computers – reported by nearly a half of all students; but the corresponding proportions are higher for SC and ST students - 61% and 60% respectively – indicating higher levels of inaccessibility to the gadgets. Almost a third of the students stated that online lessons or programmes were not offered by the school managements. 13% of the learners were busy helping their family members with their regular activities or chores; but such proportion is higher among the BC students. For a small fraction of students (7%), home atmosphere was not conducive for home-based learning.

Table 9: Reasons for not watching lessons on smart phone or other devices (including apps)

STs SCs BCs All No access to devices - 59.6 61.1 30.8 48.7 phone, tab and computer Lessons, videos, etc were 15.4 25.0 43.1 30.0 not offered Helped parents/family with 7.7 11.1 16.9 12.7 their activities Worked and earned wage 0 2.8 0 0.7 Home atmosphere not 11.5 0 7.7 7.3 conducive Total 100 100 100 100 All figures are percentages

Telecast of customized educational programmes on TV (through T-SAT and Doordarshan channels) was launched during the early months of school closures. But close to two-thirds of those who could not watch the programmes reported that they had no access to a TV set. Much higher proportions of SC and ST students (80%) reported inaccessibility to a TV set. More than a tenth of the respondent students were not able to access the educational content on their TVs. Nearly a tenth of the pupils were supporting their family members with their routine activities – a trend that is broadly consistent with the students’ daily routine reported in other sections. Likewise, a comparable proportion of students were not able to access the TV classes due to non-conducive home atmosphere. 16 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana

Table 10: Reasons for not watching lessons on TV such as T-SAT

STs SCs BCs All No access to TV 79.4 79.5 44.4 65.4 Lessons, videos, etc were 4.4 7.7 20.8 11.7 not telecast Helped parents/family with 5.9 2.6 13.9 8.4 their activities Worked and earned wage 1.5 0 4.2 2.2 Home atmosphere not 5.9 5.1 13.9 8.9 conducive Other 2.9 5.1 2.8 3.4 Total 100 100 100 100 All figures are percentages

With respect to access to text books and other learning material, almost 90% of those who could not access them reported that the learning material had not been provided to them. As reported in the previous section, a majority of students had not received text books at the time of the survey. Close to 4% of the students were not able to access text books as they were helping their parents in different ways.

Table 11: Reasons for not accessing textbooks and related material

STs SCs BCs All Books and material 96.3 96.9 79.7 88.8 unavailable or not provided Helped parents/family with 3.7 3.1 4.1 3.8 their activities Worked and earned wage 0 0 2.7 1.3 Home atmosphere not 0 0 13.5 6.3 conducive Total 100 100 100 100 All figures are percentages

Tuitions or private classes can be one of the options to continue learning during the school shutdowns. But the survey findings reveal that almost 90% of the students across the social groups reported that such an option was out of the reckoning since tuitions were not available in their native locations. And tuitions were not affordable to a tenth of them.

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Table 12: Reasons for not attending tuitions or private classes

STs SCs BCs All Tuitions or private classes 91.1 85.5 86.2 88.0 not available cannot afford tuitions or 8.9 9.2 10.8 9.5 private classes Helped parents/family with 0 3.9 3.1 2.1 their activities Worked and earned wage 0 1.3 0 0.4 Total 100 100 100 100 All figures are percentages

4.5. Access to digital devices and remote learning by gender and level of schooling

Disaggregation of the survey results by gender and the level of education throws up some policy-relevant insights. The findings laid out in table 13 bring out the broad trends indicating the differential access to digital devices and remote teaching influenced by factors such as the gender and the level of schooling of the students. The respondent households with boys reported considerably higher level of TV ownership (81%) than girls (66%). Similarly, 10th class students have marginally better access to TV sets. When it comes to the actual access to TV programmes the differences are starker: nearly a half of boys reported to have watched lessons on TV whereas the corresponding figure for girls is 29%; and a higher proportion of 10th class students actually watched TV lessons than that of 9th class.

A similar broad trend can be observed with regard to the levels of access the students have to smart phones: on all three parameters—device ownership, regular access and the actual watching of educational content—tenth class students and boys are better off than girls and ninth class students. And households with a 10th class student are more likely to invest in a new smart phone than those with children studying in lower classes. A comparable trend can be noticed in the findings with respect to the proportions of students who are in contact with their respective schools during the Covid-induced school shutdowns: 80% of the boys were in touch with their teachers while the corresponding figure for girls is 59%; and the teachers were able to be in contact with 74% of the 10th class students whereas they could reach out to 52% of 9th class students. The pattern indicates a clear preference in favour of 10th class students and boys in general.

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Table 13: Access to devices and remote learning by gender and level of education

Boys Girls 9th 10th All class class Do you have a TV set at home that 81% 66% 70% 73% 72% can receive all important channels? Have you watched lessons or videos 49% 29% 33% 39% 37% on TV? Do you have a smart phone at 74% 72% 68% 75% 73% home? Do you have regular access to smart 89% 70% 62% 85% 78% phone (for hhs with a device)? Have you watched lessons or videos 54% 47% 38% 56% 50% on smart phone and other devices? Can your family invest in a new smart 20% 25% 16% 28% 23% phone (for hhs without a device)? Was the school (principal or 80% 58 % 52% 74% 67% teachers) in touch with you during school closures? All figures are respective percentages reporting “yes”.

The analysis also explored the correlation between the ownership of digital devices and the students’ access to remote modes of teaching. The survey found that only 50% of the households that own a TV set reported to be regularly watching educational content on their TV sets. Likewise, 66% of the smartphone-owning households were able to actually access online teaching on a regular and reliable basis. The constraints that the students are confronted with in accessing remote teaching are already discussed elsewhere in this report.

4.6. Key challenges confronted by students in accessing remote or online modes of teaching

The survey elicited the responses of the students to a highly pertinent question: What were the major constraints that they were experiencing or likely to experience in accessing different types of remote/online teaching. The summated replies are laid out in table 13 below. The pattern does not show wide variations in the respective proportions between the social groups. It can be seen from the table that the major challenges reported by the children include (with respective overall percentages): Lack of reliable access to digital devices (21%); issues related to internet connectivity (20%); constraints in apprehending some subjects such as mathematics and sciences (22%); non-conducive home atmosphere (12%); remote modes of teaching are not interactive (10%); difficulties in handling technology (6%); and little or no learning support from household members.

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Table 14: Constraints encountered in accessing remote teaching

STs SCs BCs All Lack of access to digital 24.2 18.9 17.6 21.2 devices Internet connectivity issues 19.9 20.4 17.1 19.9 Difficulties in handling 6.9 7.7 2.1 5.9 technology It is not very interactive 10.4 11.7 8.0 10.4 Difficult to understand some 22.9 20.9 21.4 22.6 subjects or topics Home atmosphere is not 10.0 12.2 12.3 11.8 conducive No or little help from family 3.9 4.6 4.3 4.4 members No or little help from 0 0.5 3.7 1.3 teachers Responsibilities like – caring 1.7 3.1 2.7 2.5 or helping HH members or paid work Total 100 100 100 100 All figures are percentages

4.7. Is it difficult to learn certain subjects through remote modes of teaching?

In the light of the continued spread of Covid-19 pandemic the State Government had no option but to roll out different modes of remote teaching in an effort to ensure uninterrupted learning. In this context, the survey asked the students whether they would encounter constraints in learning certain subjects through remote modes of teaching. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of all students reported that learning mathematics would be difficult through online classes; but a higher proportion of SC students (73%) said that they would face learning difficulties with mathematics; the corresponding proportion is lowest among the ST students at 58%.

Close to a fifth (17%) of all the respondent students were of the view that learning sciences remotely would be difficult; there is no significant variation in perceptions between the social groups in this regard. A tenth of the respondents were of the view that they were unlikely to face constraints in learning any subject online. And only 7% of the students reported the likelihood of difficulties in learning languages remotely.

20 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana

Fig 3: Proportions of students reporting difficulties in learning different subjects via remote modes across social groups

4.8. Online teaching no substitute for class-room teaching

This survey elicited the students’ perspectives on the remote teaching modes rolled out by the State Government by asking them whether online teaching was as good as face-to-face teaching. An overwhelming 90.3% of the students were of the view that remote teaching was no substitute for in-person teaching. This was probed further by asking them to report the key factors that shaped their viewpoint. The highest proportion of the learners (almost 40%) feel that online instruction is not interactive ruling out interaction between students and teachers and thereby making learning difficult. A fourth of the students reported that they miss social life with their fellow students; and nearly a fifth of them were of the view that they miss the interactive learning from their peers at school due to remote lessons. More than a tenth of the students feel that online teaching deprives them of the discipline that is associated with regular classes and the academic schedules. And close to a tenth of the students point out that the constraints related to accessing and using technology make remote teaching less enjoyable than face-to-face teaching.

Fig 4: Is online teaching as good as class-room teaching?

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Why online teaching is not as good as in-person teaching?

4.9. Food-related constraints resulting from school closures

In addition to imparting the critical secondary education, the government schools under different managements covered by this survey also contribute to the food security of the student households hailing predominantly from the poor and vulnerable social groups. Against this backdrop, the student respondents were asked whether they faced food-insecurity or food related constraints following the Covid-induced school shutdowns. Among the social groups, the highest proportion (25%) of SC students responded affirmatively – indicating that the food-related impact is much higher on the SC households. This is followed by 14% and 11% of STs and BCs respectively who reported food-related constraints. The average for all students is 17%. This finding shows that the school closures had an effect on the food-security of the student households (see the last section – an update on post-survey developments).

Fig 5: Whether students experienced food-related constraints?

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4.10. Likely impacts of extension of school closures

The students’ perspectives on the likely effects of an extended period of school closures are presented in table 14 below. Loss of learning looms large on an overwhelming 86% of the students in general but the likelihood of such learning deprivation was reported by marginally greater proportion of SC students (91%) and lower percentage of BC students (78%). The second level of effect reported by close to a tenth of the students was the likelihood of students becoming disinterested in schooling. The chances of students dropping out were almost ruled out by the respondents but a small portion of them (6%) were of the view that students may be engaged in either household work or paid work.

Table 15: Students’ views on likely effects of school closures

STs SCs BCs All Loss of learning 87% 91% 78% 86% Loss of interest in schooling 8% 3% 12% 8% Pupils may drop out 1% 0 2% 1% Pupils may be engaged in household activities 3% 2% 2% 2% Pupils may be engaged in paid work 1% 5% 7% 4%

4.11. Post-survey developments: An update

The developments that have taken place since August 2020—after this rapid survey was conducted—are captured in this section. The distribution of textbooks which started in a staggered fashion in July was completed in August 2020 - with the laggard ZPSSs catching up with residential schools. In September 2020 the ZPSSs, along with residential schools under different managements, reopened for the teachers. The ZPSS system is currently relying on only one mode of remote teaching, that is, pre- recorded lessons telecast every day through T-SAT and Doordarshan channels. The programmes can be accessed online as well. The teachers under all managements had been officially directed to encourage students to watch lessons on TV.

In addition, the students can also come to their respective schools to interact with teachers to get their subject-related queries clarified. But the student response to this initiative has been relatively tepid with respect to residential schools given the spread of the students. By contrast, the student footfalls are relatively higher at ZPSSs – given their limited catchment area. As a result, phone calls and WhatsApp have emerged as the main means of communication between students and teachers. There has been no official policy as yet with respect to the periodic assessments or evaluations of students. Quarterly examinations are already due – going by the academic schedule under normal circumstances. Some teachers, however, on their 23 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Report Submitted to Scheduled Castes Development Department Impact of Covid-19 on School Education in Telangana own volition try to informally assess the learning levels of students by sending brief question papers through WhatsApp.

In contrast to ZPSSs, the Social Welfare, Tribal Welfare and general residential schools are also conducting live classes for students through zoom app – in addition to advising and spurring students to watch the recorded lessons telecast on T-SAT and Doordarshan. This survey results show that at least 25% of the students do not have access to a smartphone. Left with no other options, a sizable number of student households seem to have purchased a new smartphone. This is evidenced by around 90% student participation levels in zoom classes, although some students are unable to join zoom classes owing to internet connectivity issues and for some others the zoom participation is intermittent due to connectivity and smartphone access related constraints. Access to smartphones among students of ZPSSs does not seem to have improved as much since T-SAT and Doordarshan are the primary sources of learning for them.

Parents are of the view that in addition to the lack of reliable access to digital devices, the students’ learning is unmonitored. Loss of discipline on the part of children is also a cause for concern for parents. Even parents are unable to pay adequate attention to their children or support their learning because the former are busy with their daily routine. Resultantly, a considerable proportion of students, girls in particular, are helping their family members with their regular activities or domestic chores.

When it comes to the non-scholastic impacts of school closures, the poorer households in particular are weighed down with additional financial burden as such households are now spending more on food. The impact is particularly pronounced on the households with more than one school-going child. The students are deprived of the mid-day meals of ZPSSs and the nutritious diet served three times a day at residential schools.

The teachers of residential schools in particular are also deprived of their opportunity to identify intelligent and talented students in both curricular and co-curricular domains. Such students receive special and focused attention from the school managements and are trained and groomed for different competitive or entrance examinations and events.

Most of the students and parents—in the light of the concerns and constraints highlighted in this report—look forward to reopening of schools expecting the government to take all precautions and preventive measures to ensure the safety of students.

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