An Exploratory Study of the Influence of the Covid 19 Pandemic on EWS Students

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has forced education systems worldwide to find alternatives to face-to-face instruction. As a result, online teaching and learning have been used by teachers and students on an unprecedented scale. Since lockdowns – either massive or localized - may be needed again in the future to respond to new waves of the infection until a vaccine becomes available, it is of utmost importance for governments to identify which policies can maximize the effectiveness of online learning. This policy brief examines the role of students\' attitudes towards learning in maximizing the potential of online schooling when regular face-to-face instruction cannot take place. Since parents and teachers play a fundamental role in supporting students to develop these crucial attitudes, particularly in the current situation, targeted policy interventions should be designed to reduce the burden on parents and help teachers and schools make the most of digital learning.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Statement of Purpose

Over the past years, there's been a quantitative and qualitative extension in nearly all the areas of education. The foremost noteworthy development has been within elementary education. The status of development and advancement of a society is measured by different social indices which depend on upon the even-handed opportunities given by the government in the form of access, participation, and change. Studies within the last decade, show us dazzling disparities in social-economic and educational markers of different socio-religious groups. Whenever policies and programs don't advantage citizens, the government makes special provisions so that it would advantage them.

Though, development in a country isn't uniform. There's a tremendous inter and intra contrasts not only among states but also inside states. This becomes further skewed when we see into the access, enrolment, support, and level of achievement when we look into the diverse socio-religious groups. There's a sharp division within the society between those who are having the access to education and those who are denied it. This developing disparity in educational access and participation has its roots in India's patriarchal and caste-based stratified social structure. Irrespective of the constitutional shields under Articles 38, 15, 16, 17, and 21A and empowering policies, the circumstance has not changed in past years (Dutta, I. & Khan, M, 2016).

Opportunities and assets are not dispersed equally and access to them is decided by the position of people in society based on caste, class, and gender, driving the difference in education. Despite the constitutional safeguards, these groups proceed to slack behind the standard population in each aspect of life as social and territorial incongruities are interwoven issues resulting from an uneven spread of educational facilities over states.

But with the enactment and authorization of the RTE Act 2009, the circumstances might make strides for the children of deprived and disadvantaged segments. Gigantic budgetary allotments from the state as well as from the union government are being channelized to attain the objective of universalization of basic education. Different parallel and other plans are being run and coordinated with UEE (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) to achieve the targets. Region and bunch particular extraordinary plans and programs are being run to progress the educational status of marginalized and weaker segments of the society.

The Right to Education Act (RTE) and within it 25% Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) quota was one such major intervention. The provision of a 25% quota for EWS and disadvantaged children is mentioned in the RTE act section 12(1) (C). Thus, section 12(1)(C) of the RTE acts as a level-playing field for the children who were not able to afford the quality education being offered in private schools.

The RTE Act 2009 brought a modern lease of life for children who are left behind. The provisions made within the RTE Act are comprehensive wherein it not only ties the central and state government to create arrangements but also made the local bodies, panchayats, and indeed parents capable to form extraordinary exertion to supply education to the children.

The show RTE Act has brought inside itself plenty of contentions and issues. One of the issues which have been a genuine concern is the confirmation of the children of EWS or BPL standards within the unaided schools or private schools. The RTE Act 2009, segment 12(1) particularly states that 'For this Act, a school indicated in sub-clauses (iii) and (iv) 2 of clause (n) of Segment 2 should concede in Class 1, to the extent of at slightest 25 percent of the strength of that class, children having a place to weaker area and impeded bunch within the neighbourhood and give free and obligatory education till its completion.

However, according to the supreme court of India, the digital divide, under the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, has brought about “stark consequences” as the right to education was virtually gainsaid to students studying under the disadvantaged group/ economically weaker section, as their families could not afford computer-based equipment and access to internet services for online classes.

It directed the Delhi government to develop a plan to help children's EWS category and added the center and state governments should jointly work to develop a realistic and lasting solution to ensure children are not denied education due to lack of resources. The need for young children who are the future of the country cannot be ignored, it added (IANS, 2021). As schools switched to the digital medium during the pandemic and the EWS/DG children may have to suffer the consequences of not pursuing education, and in the worst case, they may even drop out, due to lack of access to online education.

B. Purpose Of The Study

The rise of virtual education amid the Covid-19 lockdown appears to have further made a ‘class division’ among the rich and the destitute, particularly those from the financially weaker area (EWS). According to the Delhi government, in private schools, almost about 10 to 15 percent of students from the EWS don't have access to the digital medium to attend online classes. But private schools have claimed that 90 to 92 percent of their students have access to computerized stages, and most students from the EWS overseen to attend the classes.

However, the participation of these students dropped after many days of propelling the virtual classes due to low internet data and non-availability of wi-fi connections at home, something numerous schools have moreover conceded to. Even as students wish to move to online learning, over 75 percent of students reported a severe impact on their education due to the COVID-19 crisis. About 90 percent need hand-holding to make a shift towards online learning. (Edu. Desk, 2020).

A majority of students surveyed showed an inclination for online learning but also admitted to multiple barriers that they faced in the transition. More than 75 percent of students said they found it difficult to pursue an online course as they had never done it before. As per the survey, as many as 30 percent of students did not possess the infrastructure to pursue online learning. Nearly 35 percent were unaware of the right online courses to opt for.

As we advocated the shift in learning methods in the changing scenario, the challenges for Economically Disadvantaged Section of EWS students in India had only increased as they were neither equipped nor hand-held in pursuing online learning programs.

School teachers in Delhi have pointed out that students from the Economically Weaker Society (EWS) are confronting numerous issues with the new mode of learning and are incapable to go to classes. Instructors from both government and private schools pointed out how understudies from the EWS categorization don't have appropriate access to innovation and are not able to connect to online classes. The Supreme Court, on October 8, directed the Delhi government to come up with an arrangement to assist children of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category and impeded bunches amid the widespread for their online classes.

The SC directed that the Centre and Delhi ought to work together to discover an arrangement to ensure that education isn't denied due to the need for assets. The High Court had directed that the cost of contraptions and web packages are not a part of educational cost expense and have to be given free of cost to these students by the schools, subject to the right of private unaided schools to claim a repayment from the state by the arrangement of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

The challenges faced by the EWS students range from the unequal access to online mode of education to mental pressure to cope up, therefore the present study is to explore these challenges faced by the EWS students.

C. Research Question

1. How was the experience of EWS students studying in 11th and 12th grade during the Covid 19 lockdowns (national and state level)?
2. What were the challenges faced by the EWS students in private schools before and during the lockdown?
3. What supports were provided by the schools to support these students?
4. What are the other kinds of support that were available and helpful for the students?

D. Significance of The Study

The provision of 25% reservations in private schools under the Right to Education Act (RTE) for children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups has garnered much debate among researchers as well as the common people in India. The overarching goal of such provision is to promote social inclusion that recognizes the diversity of children and makes the disadvantaged and culturally distinct groups to be equal members of the society (Suchitra & Sujatha, 2017).

Several apprehensions are prevailing around this provision as the pandemic caused several challenges with the drastic shift to online schooling. This study would try to understand the problems caused by the lockdowns during the pandemic which includes not only economic but also psychological dimensions as well. The study would also explore the roles played by parents and educators to conquer these challenges.

The findings of the research will be instrumental for educators and parents in knowing how we can understand the challenges that are caused by the technological lag in the rise of online education amid the lockdowns. It will also help to analyse how these challenges can be overcome.

E. Conclusion

The RTE Act has opened a new chapter within the 'State-Private' condition within the field of school education. On the one hand, it is the legitimate obligation forced on private schools to admit the distraught and the destitute children, and on the other hand, it extended the administrative framework through standards on acknowledgment, infrastructure, educational programs, pedagogy, and teachers as endorsed by RTE Act.

As educational institutes move online due to the lockdown caused by the coronavirus widespread, students from economically weaker sections (EWS) are finding it difficult to catch up. Of the 25 crore students influenced by the lockdown, 80 percent dropped within the EWS category and are battling due to the need for e-learning, know-how, and inaccessibility of the required framework.

F. Summary of the chapters

Chapter II – the literature review traces the development in the implementation of the Right to Education Act, which aims to provide free and compulsory elementary education for children. Thereafter, it centers on the findings of various researches on the importance of the act.

Chapter III – Methods, explains in detail the design of the research. It explains how the study will be conducted. It gives research legitimacy and provides scientifically sound findings. It also provides a detailed plan that helps to keep researchers on track, making the process smooth, effective, and manageable

Chapter IV - Findings, present the results of the study. It also discusses the major themes emerging from my research.

Chapter V - Discussion and Implications, discusses how my study connects to the previous research done in the field of inclusive education through the Right to Education Act and its implications in the implementation.

II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

The purpose of the present study is to dwell deeper into the challenges of students studying in private schools under the economically weaker section (EWS) quota through the Right to Education Act, 2009 during the lockdowns put amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The emphasis is also on how these challenges can be/were overcome. The different support provided to adjust through the shift from a face-to-face mode of education to online learning.

To provide the readers a comprehensive understanding of the present study, the literature review is divided into sections, the first one provides an understanding of elementary education and why is it needed, and how it serves as an agent for bringing social inclusion, thereafter the perceived benefits of RTE- how this policy will help uplift children from the disadvantaged group and provide free and compulsory education, then the ways of implementation of RTE act, then the perceived challenges arising from its enforcement and lastly understanding the shift from face-to-face to online learning.

A. Education As An Agent For Social Inclusion

Elementary education shapes the premise of mental development in a child and prepares him/her with the analytical abilities, confidence, and competencies that help clear the way for an effective future for him/her. Subsequently, it is basic for nations to center their consideration on giving quality elementary instruction to their citizens, particularly to the underprivileged areas of the society, and engage the masses with a quality education that can empower them to break the shackles of destitution.

With the formation of a free Indian state, it was the vision of the then pioneers of the country to set up a policy that would give free and obligatory education to children between six to 14 years, and accomplish the expressed goals within 10 years of the commencement of the Indian constitution.01 However, there's still a long way to go in terms of satisfying the genuine vision of an educated and competent India, where quality education isn't a benefit given only to the elite class, but the right of each child born in this country. (KMPG, 2016)

However, a zone of concern is the loss of focus on giving quality education, with the current focus and accentuation majorly focused on enrolment numbers and progressing infrastructure benchmarks of schools. The capacity to reach the unreachable sections of the society with the quality education that will bring around an equal education opportunity for India for all, and not an India that's isolated between the first class and the underprivileged, is however to be accomplished.

The main challenge for the country, at that time, was to envision and implement effective approaches which can work to the advantage of the statistic profit, subsequently impelling the nation's financial development. Speculations in social divisions like education will be vital to gather the benefits and potential of this demographic dividend. At such an imperative juncture, it'll be beneficial to see back at one of the foremost important Acts about education i.e. the RTE Act. India got to be one of the numerous countries to create education the fundamental right of each child when the RTE Act was passed by the Indian Parliament on 4 August 2009.

B. Perceived benefits of RTE

The Supreme Court judgment has resulted in the shift of students from public schools to private ones, which has been reflected particularly within the ASER (2014) report wherein it has been detailed that 35% students primary school children in India were enlisted in private schools in 2012, but by 2014 this figure raised by 41% and by 2019 the government school framework would be consigned to a secondary status in giving primary education.

The inauspicious state of public schools particularly regarding the quality of education it offers has been seen as the answer or a more effective alternative for figuring out the objectives of the RTE Act. The overwhelming clarification for the phenomena has been that it is reflective of developing desires among the poor, not only for education but great quality of education, to which the private schools have reacted whereas the government schools have fizzled to do so (Dutta, I. & Khan, M, 2016). Hence RTE Act compels privately run institutions to go for social incorporation of marginalized segments of society.

The RTE Act which acts as an approach intervention for social inclusion or a common school framework says that a heterogeneous school populace gives an improved learning environment, separated from advancing social cohesion (Sucharita & Sujatha 2019). The currently utilized term 'inclusive' education infers, as did prior terms like 'common' and 'neighborhood' schools, that children from distinctive foundations and with changing interface and capacity will accomplish their most noteworthy potential in case they study in a shared classroom environment.

C. Implementation of RTE

Subsequently, it is pivotal to understand how private schools adapt to and negotiate the requests of the RTE Act and their commitment to cultivating inclusion. Besides, the students who are enlisted within the private schools through EWS standard have a tough time, not as it were from himself or themselves but moreover from their peers and teachers. But the question here emerges are the students instructively benefitted or there has been a rise in the host of issues related to education.

The Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009 is undoubtedly one of the landmark regulations in the education sector in India, aimed at providing momentum to India’s vision of making education compulsory for all. The RTE Act attempts to provide every child (between the age group of 6-14 years) the right to quality and equitable elementary education in a formal school. Since 2010, the year when the Act was implemented, it has successfully met key goals. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) report, published in June 2014 highlights that the Government of India and the state governments have been successful in ensuring that states follow the policies outlined in the RTE Act. (KMPG, 2016).

Despite the progress and enhancement within the insights within the regions as said over, which can be named as a few of the victories that the RTE Act has accomplished, the quality of education within the nation is still not at standard with the anticipated benchmarks of quality education. A minimum benchmark is important which has not been said within the RTE Act. The provision of quality education ought to be the need of the government. The concept of quality education is exceptionally notional within the RTE Act and ought to be changed. The rate of children with perusing abilities as per their standard of study is altogether low, and more so among the rural schools vis-à-vis the urban schools.

Indeed, in urban schools, the learning benchmarks of the financially disadvantaged bunches are much lower than the rest. In this way, the Act has not been able to adjust to the desires of an isolated and differentiated Indian society.

D. Challenges Arising From The Enforcement

The report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on assessing the impact of the right to education act emphasizes the challenges arising from its enforcement of the act. The first one is, disciplinary issues and lack of motivation, with children coming from different foundations in schools, disciplinary issues emerge which hampers the learning and progress of other children, as cited by the principals amid the reported interviews. Discipline is nearly dissolved in schools. Children coming from the EWS category utilize injurious language and have no appropriate behavior. This impacts the standard children. Anti-social components and nearby goons take the most extreme advantage of this. There have been occasions when these local goons extricate cash for affirmation from schools.

Secondly, Inferiority complex among children, the children from the EWS category frequently endure an inadequacy complex while studying in private schools. The tremendous wage contrast and standard of living between children of middle-income and high-income families and children from slums frequently encompass a gigantic impact on the mental and psychological improvement of EWS children. They are uncovered to an environment that is exceptionally different and are inquired to outlive in it. The EWS children's living space too plays a critical part. In many cases, these children go back to the same clusters, the smudged and grimy environment wherein individuals utilize injurious dialect, and conclusion up playing with the same set of children living in their neighborhood. They confront two diverse situations at a delicate age, one in school and the other in their living space. This takes off a colossal effect on a child and increments their materialistic desires once they begin aiming to a private school. Moreover, Inadequate English language skills are a major problem because unlike general category students, EWS children don't have home learning support as their parents tend to be unfamiliar with English. (Yasmeen,2021)

Next, Non-timely installments from the state governments, Private schools are feeling the squeeze since of this issue as they have to be compelled to bear the cost of the 25 percent of children admitted beneath RTE. The state government must take the responsibility of guaranteeing convenient installments to the private schools. Although RTE could be a great thought as concurred by everybody, the state government's part is imperative for viable implementation of the same. This influences the balance sheet of schools and forces a more prominent burden on the school administration and parents of the remaining 75 percent.

There are a lot of covered-up costs as well, e.g. conducting tutorials and additional classes for 25 percent category of students. Since these children cannot bear to take any tutorial activities, the individual schools ought to contribute and put another check on these students. This not only forces additional takes a toll on schools but moreover requires instructors to give extra hours in school. The need of the hour is for the state governments to figure out the reality that a government school consumption is diverse from a private school consumption. This would by implication affect the remaining 75 percent, as the burden may be shifted to them. The parents of these children ought to pay income tax, education cess, and presently educational cost expenses of 25 percent. This is often neither alluring nor reasonable.

Social and financial imbalance is the unrefined reality of the advanced world. Amassing riches and control over modest bunch individuals have heightened the level of social and financial incongruities. The unequal access and dispersion of the financial as well as social assets in society have pushed numerous communities towards disadvantaged status. The centrality of approaches encouraging Social consideration can be exceptionally well evaluated in this situation. Education is one of the foremost powerful mediums to realize social incorporation. (Rana, 2018)

To attain Social Inclusion of EWS children through EWS Quota, accessibility of EWS Standard in private schools is certainly not sufficient. The social, economic, and psychological obstructions moreover got to be taken into thought and remedial measures required to be arranged accordingly. The different worries among partners at the distinctive level as well as the monetary imperatives got to be deliberately managed in arranging progress worthiness and flexibility of the EWS Quota.

The study by Rana (2018), uncovered one of the foremost vital viewpoints in achieving social inclusion through education. There's a need for affectability whereas creating educational programs for children has a place for distinctive financial and social strata to guarantee their full cooperation as well as victory. EWS Quota pointed at accomplishing social incorporation of the underprivileged children; in any case, it had just endorsed the now-made curriculum for destitute children without giving a thought to their particular needs and circumstances. The socially responsive instructional method is the need of the 21st-century classroom to guarantee support, success, and accomplishment of all children independent of the social and financial foundation. One set of thoughts cannot be forced on all and education should recognize the distinctive challenges and opportunities related to diverse learners.

And lastly and most importantly, digitalization in school, Lot of schools these days are moving towards digitalization and are giving homework through the web. The question that emerges is how this 25 percent (as specified earlier in the Status of states beneath RTE section) of students will adapt to this. Usage of such modern measures gets to be a challenge. Since these children are not likely to have computers or portable workstations at the domestic level they will be denied ICT. The gap is as well wide between the haves and have-nots and measures have to be received to combat these issues.

E. Digitalization And Shift In The Mode Of Education

Online classes have been conducted since the beginning of lockdown and will continue for the foreseeable future. Low-income students without access to a steady internet connection and reliable computers face the prospect of being deprived of an entire year of education. This raises the question: what happens to the Right to Education under Article 21A during the pandemic? (Gopalakrishnan, 2020). Before understanding the effects of the RTE Act during the pandemic, the report by CII & KMPG (2016) presents a clear picture of the act, while also reflecting on the challenges arising from its enforcement of the RTE Act.

With the shift of education from a face-to-face offline teaching and learning system to a computer-based online system, economically disadvantaged students faced the drawbacks of being digitally deprived. The study by Rana (2009) revealed one of the most crucial aspects of attaining social inclusion through education. There is a need for sensitivity while developing a curriculum for children belonging to different economic and social strata to ensure their full participation as well as success.

School closure due to the COVID-19 widespread has driven total disengage from education for the tremendous majority of children or insufficient choices like community-based classes or poor options within the frame of online education, including versatile phone-based learning. Similarly, disturbing is the far-reaching phenomenon of 'forgetting' by students about learning from the past class – this can be a relapse in their curricular learning. This incorporates losing foundational capacities such as perusing with understanding and performing addition and multiplication, which they had learned prior and ended up capable in, and which are the basis of further learning. These foundational capacities are such that their absence will affect not only learning of more complex capacities but moreover conceptual understanding of subjects.

EWS Quota aimed at achieving social inclusion of the underprivileged children; however, it had just prescribed the already made curriculum for poor children without giving a thought to their specific needs and circumstances especially while considering the shift. ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” (Nelson Mandela, 2003); Rana (2009) argues on the same lines arguing that social inclusion is the process of ensuring representation and participation of all the sections of the society in the activities considered normal for the society by removing all kinds of social, economic, psychological and physical barriers.

Inclusion of economically weaker and socially disadvantaged groups is crucial for the sustainable development of the country and education is considered to be one of the most influential mediums, and in circumstances of a worldwide pandemic, where education itself is hampered due to lack of resources, social inclusion is at stake. A lot of surveys and reports lays down the challenges faced by students, as most of the schools across the nation are opting for computer-based education, the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) students of the society are still not able to compete with other private school, the article talks about the barriers faced by families by digitization in education, years before the implementation of lockdown.

Moreover, as compared to other students, it is like a dream for EWS students to use the internet and computer for completing their home assignments. ("EWS students face trouble", 2016). A holistic approach to education – that addresses students' learning, social and emotional needs – is crucial, especially in times of crisis. School closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic mean that students from diverse backgrounds who are more at risk of increased vulnerability are less likely to receive the support and extra services they need, and the gap between students that experience additional barriers and those who do not might widen.

Closures can also have considerable effects on students' sense of belonging to schools and their feelings of self-worth – these are key for inclusion in education (OCED, 2020). The challenges faced by students are not only economical but also have psychosocial dimensions. children are exposed to large amounts of information and high levels of stress and anxiety in the adults around them.

Simultaneously, children are experiencing substantial changes to their daily routine and social infrastructure, which ordinarily foster resilience to challenging events.

The Article by Summiya Yasmeen, argues that now as the constitutional propriety of s. 12 (1) (c) has been validated by the Supreme Court, it would be advisable for the country's private non-minority primary/elementary schools to follow the inclusion model of Delhi's private schools. Eight years of learning and playing with a small number of underprivileged children from disadvantaged households might arouse the qualities of empathy, compassion, and equity for the poor majority, which India's acquisitive middle class so conspicuously lacks.

The research conducted by Kumar, A., Shukla, S., & Panmei, M. examines key constituents of elementary education given the RTE Act such as current attendance rate, types of institutions, medium of instruction, neighborhood schools, Monthly per capita expenditure on elementary education (MPCEE)and incentives during the pre-and post-RTE period using National Sample Survey Organisation's 64th (2007–2008) and 71st (2014) round of unit-level data. The result shows that far from universalization, the exclusion is getting entrenched across gender, sector, and socio-religious and economic groups. Female children, children from denied socio-religious bunches, rural regions, and from the bottom MPCE quintile have not as it fared lower in most of the examined parameters amid the pre-RTE period, but the crevice from their partner has extended gigantically amid the post-RTE period. Free education has declined and month-to-month per capita consumption of elementary education has expanded strongly. Children are moving out of the government to private schools. The discoveries raise genuine questions about the deliberate of the government to satisfy its command beneath RTE.

The Supreme Court directed the Delhi Government to develop a plan to help children of the EWS category and added that center and state governments should jointly work to develop a realistic and lasting solution to ensure children are not denied education due to lack of resources. A bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said "it is necessary for Delhi Government, to come up with a plan to uphold the salutary objective of the RTE act. Center to also coordinate with state governments and share concurrent responsibilities for funding (TOI Oct 8, 2021)

Instructing and learning exercises had to move online when the widespread constrained the closure of schools and colleges. Whereas technology guarantees that learning isn't suspended, the digital divide proceeds to create inaccessible learning an 'operational nightmare'. Technology has the potential to attain all-inclusive quality education and make strides in learning results. But to unleash its potential, the digital divide must be tended to. An all-encompassing approach to education – that addresses students' learning, and social and emotional needs – is significant, particularly in times of emergency. School closures related to the COVID-19 widespread mean that students from differing foundations who are more at the chance of expanded helplessness are less likely to get them back and additional administrations they require, and the gap between students who experience additional barriers and that who don't might broaden. Closures can moreover have impressive impacts on students' sense of having a place in schools and their sentiments of self-worth – these are key for incorporation in education.

 

F. Conclusion

The pandemic and its related lockdowns have quickened the selection of nearly every kind of online service. The lockdown has brought to the fore the deep-set disparities in the education framework. The online mode of instruction has made a digital divide between the haves and have-nots. The state government and schools give perusing material, books, and advanced substitute education strategies so that children aren't left behind. On the off chance that children are incapable to go to school — whether it is private or government school — they run the chance of dropping out and being pushed into child work to supplement the family salary. The government should not fail the RTE Act and the Sec 12-1-C that imagined bridging the inequality gap.

 

III. METHODOLOGY

A. Introduction

The purpose of this study is to trace and understand the issues and challenges faced by students studying under the EWS quota in private schools of Delhi during the Covid-19 lockdowns, it also gives an insight into how these students received support to overcome these challenges and the roles played by school authorities, parents and teachers in the same.

The study was planned using a qualitative method approach employing structured interviews. Structured interviews are characterized as research tools that are extremely rigid in their operations are permits exceptionally small or no scope of provoking the participants to obtain and analyse results. It is hence also known as a standardized interview and is essentially quantitative in its approach.

Questions in this interview are pre-decided concurring to the specified detail of information. Structured interviews are unreasonably utilized in study research to keep up consistency all through all the interview sessions. They can be closed-ended as well as open-ended – concurring with the sort of target population.

Closed-ended questions can be included to understand client inclinations from a collection of reply choices through open-ended can be included to pick up details about a specific area within the interview.

The following table summarizes the research questions and their corresponding interview questions with the method of data collection

B. Background Questions

Name

Age

Which school are you enrolled in?

Which class are you currently studying in?

What is your parents’ profession?

Have you changed school in past or studying in the same? If changes, why?

What are your views on the school you're studying in?

What were the challenges you faced while studying in private school before the Covid 19 pandemic?

Research Question	Interview Question	Data Collection method
1) What was the experience of	1a) What were the changes you	Interview session 1
EWS students studying in the	observed during the lockdown?
11th and 12 h grades during the
Covid 19 lockdowns in private	1b) What are your views on online
schools in the Delhi NCR
region?	learning?
	1c) To what extent were you able to
	participate in an online setting
	1d) What mode of learning worked
	well for you, online or face-to-face?
	1e) What were some of the barriers you
	faced in joining online classes?
	1f) What was your experience during
	the lockdown period?
2) What were the challenges	2a) What were the challenges you faced	Interview session 1
faced by the EWS students in	during the shift from face-to-face mode
private schools before and	to online mode of schooling caused by
during the lockdowns?	the covid-19 lockdown?
	2b) Did the Covid 19 lockdowns bring
	any challenges, how?
	2c) In your opinion, how can these
	challenges be resolved?
3) What supports were provided	3a) Were you able to express the issues	Interview session 2
by the schools to support these	you faced before and during the
students before and during the	pandemic, to your concerned school
period of the lockdowns?	authorities? How?
	3b) What steps did your school take to
	address your concerns?
4) What are the other kinds of	4a) Were you able to discuss your	Interview session 2
support that were available and	challenges with your parents? How did
helpful for the students?	you inform them?

    C. Research Setting

 

The study was conducted in two sessions, with 2 students from classes 11 & 12 each. studying in two different private schools (The Heritage school & Lancer’s Convent) in North-West Delhi under the EWS quota. First, demographic details were collected through an online zoom interview and the other 2 sessions were conducted face to face with the participants.

Selection of participants- The participants were in the school from Participants-

	Participant 1	Participant 2	Participant 3	Participant 4
Name Codes	P1	P2	P3	P4
Class	11th	12th	12th	11th
Father’s	Salesman	Medical Store	Works in Gas	Works in
profession			agency	Lancer's Convent
				School as a guard
Mother’s	Housewife	Anganwadi	Asha Worker	Housewife
profession		Helper
Did school	No	No	Yes, due to	No
change?			change in the city

D. Analysis

The data analysis was conducted in different consecutive steps. Within the first step of the method, codes were assigned to each member within the group to maintain their confidentiality (P1, P2, P3, P4 respectively). Thereafter, the responses of each participant for each question were noted and recorded with their permission.

Later, after conducting both sessions, a response sheet was designed to put the responses in a structured tabular format. Then Thematic analysis was used, Thematic analysis is one of the foremost common forms of analysis within qualitative research. It emphasizes recognizing, analyzing, and deciphering patterns of meaning inside qualitative information.

Lastly, themes were taken out and responses were grouped under the themes to interpret the data collected.

IV. RESULTS

A. Introduction

The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of students studying under the EWS quota in reputed private schools of Rohini, Delhi. And to trace their challenges through this process of shifting from face-to-face mode of classes to an online learning experience. I analyzed the data collected from the interview conducted with 4 such students who were studying in these private schools.

In this chapter, I will present the results of my study. To start with, I will briefly background information about the 4 students and the 2 schools they are studying in. following this is the main analysis which is done for each interview question and explained through the help of pie charts, graphs, and tables.

B. Students

All four students are studying under the EWS category. Participant 1, is studying in class 11th in the commerce section. She stays in Sultanpuri, i.e a JJ colony near Rohini. Her father is a salesperson in a private company and her mother is a housewife, has 2 siblings who are also studying in different private schools. Participant 2, is studying class 12th, humanities section, lives in the peripheral area of Rohini, and has 1 elder brother who is working and married. His father owns a small medical store that is rented and his mother works as an Aganwadi helper under the ICDS scheme. Participant 3 is also in 12th standard in Heritage school and has one younger brother and a younger sister. Her father works in Raveena Gas Agency as a delivery person. They live in Begumpur. Her mother is an Asha worker. And participant 4 is studying in class 11th, lives in sector 1 of Rohini, and has one elder and one younger sibling. His father works in his school itself as a security guard and his mother is a housewife.

C. Schools

With a conscious commitment to building expressive autonomy in learning, school 1, has developed an experiential learning curriculum. Built on the foundation of empowering children to become rational decision-makers and mindful agents of change, our innovative pedagogy facilitates children to become critical and reflective thinkers. Quite apart from all this, the school offers the best value for money. With a fee structure similar to other day schools in the NCR, It, stands out in terms of the quality it offers, not merely in terms of infrastructure but, most importantly, through the quality of teaching and learning. Its fully air-conditioned campus is equipped with state-of-the-art computer labs, laboratories, a library, and audio-visual classrooms to foster an environment for independent and group learning. Through a diverse kind of well-planned events, community outreach programs, and learning encounters; the processes, theories, and abilities of all children are made visible and open for interpretation by the parent community. With these premises, the School seeks to produce and create conditions that are fruitful for learning. It is New Delhi ranked 17th with 1175/1500 points. (Retrieved from official school website)

We, at School 2, allow free and natural growth to ensure genuine development. The teachers here are not taskmasters but helpers and guides. We believe that knowledge can be acquired through various sources; our job is just to train young minds to gather it for themselves.

The knowledge is there within and the teachers not only strive to show the child where it is and how it can be habituated to rise to the surface. We are aware that, we have to gradually steer the child from the stage of gathering information, to the stage of assimilation and finally take him to the final stage of the utilization of that information. We consider the learning process to be complete when we know that the new information acquired by our learner has been so well integrated that he can utilize it and apply it in any new situation. It ranked 36th in Delhi. (Retrieved from official school website)

Both the schools follow the CBSE curriculum.

D. Question-Wise Analysis

1. What were the changes you observed during the lockdown?

 

COVID-19 has wreaked destruction over the world and like every critical sector, education has been hit difficult. Students, schools, colleges, and colleges have been profoundly affected. The majority of students felt the lockdown to be a sudden change that they were not prepared for, which not only caused a lack of communication as they were locked in their homes but also, staying inside the 4 walls made them mentally sick, even though medical services were available but the current conditions where hospitals were packed, priority was given to Covid patients. Moreover, the lockdown was imposed without any prior information due to which it became very difficult to stock up the resources. Where the students went out to school and tuition were now confined to their homes.

For the participants, the areas they stay in were not as clean and safe, in a situation where the virus was spreading with a rapid chain. Staying in an unsafe environment was even riskier. The shift of staying home for complete 24 hours for many weeks, where the lockdown kept on extending, the sleep cycle/schedule of students was also disturbed. Binge-watching till daybreak, playing unending games until the sun rises, or essentially gazing into obscurity whereas everybody around is in profound sleep. Sleepless nights were now not about once in a while but too frequently for comfort which pushed individuals(students) into the limits of their homes, trouble, and uneasiness were on the rise, showing basically within the shape of sleep disorders.

2. What are your views on online learning?

 

Online learning offers a few benefits for understudies who need adaptability whereas going to college. Moreover, the COVID-19 has changed the instruction talk radically since presently the understudies can discover their courses and books online where they can ponder as per their plan. In any case, students confront numerous issues in online classes. Internet availability has come about in an increase in the request for online learning around the world. But numerous of them confront a few challenges of online learning, such as obstacles in their comprehensive learning involvement and real-time doubt solution. The above chart describes the major views of the participants on their online learning experience, beginning with the need for adapting to the online platform of learning, which was completely new to the students.

The majority of the students belonging to EWS families have limited resources or no resources at all, where 2/3 of siblings are using 1 device to join their respective classes, and these classes often clash due to which one of the children has to skip their class. Laptops are still a luxury for the participants' families. Teachers provide recorded sessions to help the students but again the student cannot ask questions if there's something they did not understand. And if in case there are phones to connect to the class, wi-fi connection is absent. And classes are taken on daily internet services which have a limit that is often exhausted after a 2-hour class. And they can't afford a high internet package. Which eventually the student's learning experience.

Online education in Indian schools is still in its favor and is slowly getting more well known since it is presently the need of the hour. Technical issues are the greatest challenge for instructors and students and network causes major issues. The instructional method required for online educating needs refinement. Both teachers and students have communicated that they have confronted health issues with more prominent exposure to screen time. Nonattendance of face-to-face interaction of teachers and students a?ects the educating learning involvement.

3. To what extent were you able to participate in an online setting?

 

 

Class participation is another critical issue while learning to ta take online classes, participant revealed that only a limited number of students were the most active ones in answering the teacher when asked something. This bunch of students was common to all the subjects and not just one, the bunch usually had students who had a good and stable network who were able to understand what the teacher was explaining.

Most of the time when the teacher was explaining the topic they shared their screen to explain but due to poor network connectivity, couldn't see/ understand anything, said a participant. Moreover, there were times when the teacher kept on asking the question but no one responded. "We don't have maids at our place so we place our class and keep doing the household chores, which seems like we are not there, most classes started at 8 in the morning and I used to clean my place ta that time"-another participant.

Students don't have stable internet nor do they have private space to take individual classes without getting disturbed. They have to sit in rooms where people are already sitting and doing their work so even if they know/ or want to say the answer they are unable to as if they unmute themselves it becomes extremely noisy.

“The teachers/ faculty also keep on taking online classes through zoom/google meet, they also get exhausted while taking classes from morning to evening, which was feasible in a face-to-face mode but in an online mode, the exposure to the screen continuously, becomes another health hazard. Hence, when the teacher is exhausted, students tend to keep classes on, mute themselves and switch off their cameras, and indulge themselves in other activities. Some students were caught sleeping while switching the camera on by mistake"- Participant.

4. What mode of learning worked well for you, online or face-to-face?

 

The "New Normal" has gotten to be the foremost self-contradicting phrase since the start of the worldwide pandemic Coronavirus. Online education is learning through online classes in the comfort of the students and teachers. In comparison, Offline education is the conventional learning framework where students and teachers have face-to-face learning. Both modes of instruction have their points of interest and impediments.

Online

Face-to-face (offline)

Hybrid

Advantages

It  is

adaptable;

can be

Students

are

completely

offer

more

provides

accessed from any place

mindful  of  the  lesson  only;

adaptability

than

in-

with

a

gadget

and

less distraction. Online classes

person classes. Instead

internet

connection.

have

more

conceivable

of

going

to

multiple

Budget-friendly.

outcomes

of

distractions

on-campus

class

Convenient attendance.

where  students  may  surf  or

sessions

each

week,

Class

recordings

are

indulge

in

other

activities.

students

complete

accessible for afterward

Teachers

can

give  personal

more

of

their

work

references.

attention

to

the

students,

online,

permitting

address their issues and solve

them to organize work

it rapidly.

around

their

other

duties.

Disadvantages

Online

instruction

Students

may

lack    the

A few students battle

requires

remaining

opportunity

to

learn

with the organizational

logged in on the screen

progressing technology. Time

abilities

required

for

for an expanded period

management  gets  to  be  an

online

study.

For

frequently.

Poor

issue for students who dwell

illustration,

online

Internet network issues

distant away from schools. No

courses

regularly

too emerge at different

recording or any other form of

require

greater

time

times

amid

online

information

isn't

accessible

management aptitudes

sessions.

for students who missed the

and

the

capacity

to

class

prioritize assignments.

5. What were some of the barriers you faced in joining online classes?

 

Online students can falter to begin online learning since they don't have involvement in tech. They have heard that online learning is only for people who have involvement with tech; consequently, they dodge it till the present. This conviction anticipates numerous students from hopping to online classes. Online students usually persuade themselves that they require advanced aptitudes in innovation so that they can participate. Nevertheless, they can dispose of their stress by giving them personalized back and online instructional exercises. Make demos to appear the students how to utilize and get to the Learning Management Framework.

The data restrain and data speed were again the restrictions of the internet framework. These grant us an understanding that if any nation needs to move towards online instruction then as a pre-requisite it ought to center on its web facilities. The need for a convenient way of direct interactions in classrooms is additionally a major concern besides those specified over in conducting online classes. Lack of access to the internet will prohibit a few of the learners from the online classes. Moderate connections can moreover make accessing course platforms and materials baffling. Online classes will be fruitful as it were if web office is given to all by making it even-handed and reasonable.

As shared above, the lack of devices and personal space in lower-middle-class families is another barrier to joining online classes.

6. What was your experience during the lockdown period?

Stress and trauma can hinder cognitive processing, diminish students’ executive working aptitudes, and disturb emotional control. All of that makes it troublesome to memorize, think, and engage seriously. Between anxiety around the coronavirus widespread and numerous students are confronting uncommon emotional challenges. And they may not have the support system or adapting aptitudes to manage them.

Students are likely to be encountering stress, anxiety, and fear, and this will incorporate the sorts of fears, such as a fear of their relatives passing on, or a fear of what it implies to get treatment. If schools have closed as part of essential measures, at that point children may not have that sense of structure and incitement that's given by that environment, and presently they have less opportunity to be with their companions and get that social bolster that's basic for great mental well-being.

When there is already a scarcity of resources during the lockdown, students not only faced mental health issues but also physical health problems, the environment outside is already hazardous, and the areas where the participants are residing, are highly populated bringing more risk.

 

The precautious social distancing has led to social isolation, depression and social isolation regularly co-occur and are all too common in students. Whereas the term depression alludes to subjective feelings, social isolation is characterized by the level and recurrence of one’s social interactions. As an acknowledged concept, loneliness is characterized as the subjective feeling of being alone, whereas social isolation portrays an objective state of individuals' social situations and association designs. The other challenge of online learning is boredom. Online students ordinarily check out when boredom begins. Managing this obstruction is one of the major journeys for online teachers.

7. What were the challenges you faced during the shift from face-to-face mode to online mode of schooling caused by the covid-19 lockdown?

The students find it troublesome to adjust to the online learning environment promptly after the conventional classroom learning environment. The students who have continuously been studying within the conventional classroom attitude are not able to center on the online stage at once. The students have to acknowledge the modern learning environment with an open mind. Many students are not well equipped with the high internet connection that's required for online learning. Due to this, they confront issues in going live for virtual learning and other stages that require an online connection and the impact of online classes on students. They confront technical issues in online classes as they are not much aware of innovation and computer applications. A moderate and tall internet connection can play a vital part in how rapidly you'll go to the class and not miss any live sessions. There's a plausibility of the destitute network in case you find trouble in downloading a few data related to the subject.

 

 

Lack of IT education may be a major concern in today's world. Numerous students still cannot operate basic computers. And at whatever point some technical issues arise, they find it troublesome to unravel the issue in such a situation. In some cases, they don't know innovation capabilities like login, live classes, making and submitting work, and communicating with instructors and companions.

In numerous cases, students find trouble managing their time with online learning. Online learning is unused to them and requires serious work. They require a planned organizer to manage their time compellingly. Online learning gives adaptable time, not at all like conventional classrooms. But a few confront challenges in altering the time required for online learning. Students begin losing hope once they find trouble in online learning. It requires inspiration to complete assignments and engage students with their learning. The need for motivation is one of the common issues confronted by students in online classes.

Learning from home is an astounding encounter. One might anticipate things around you to be like a school campus. But at home things are distinctive for case, one might need a gigantic classroom, parks, play areas, canteens, companions, and teachers around to direct and learn. But with online learning, one has to oversee everything in one room with people around. One can be effortlessly diverted by little things at home.

Students need compelling communication aptitudes amid online learning. Teachers grant assignments for progressing reading and writing abilities but there's a plausibility that they might not be able to type in so convincingly that teachers get the concept behind their assignments. There are a few students who feel modest to communicate with their teachers and companions due to the modern model of learning. It might happen due to a lack of intrigue, destitute innovative abilities with apps and video calls, or being incapable of precise themselves through live chats, emails, or content messages.

8. Did the Covid 19 lockdowns bring any challenges, and how?

The participants live basically in slum areas. Which might maximize their exposure to the infection, it too implies they have constrained access to health services. Besides, since these households tend to depend more on household settlements from urban transients, financial shutdowns in urban regions will hurt them as well. The destitute in urban zones, on the other hand, live in congested settlements with low-quality services, which would altogether increment their chance of being tainted by the disease. Disturbances in nourishment markets can be more serious in urban zones.

The destitute work to a great extent within the farming and service sectors and are ordinarily self-employed or informally employed, basically in smaller scale and family enterprises. Those utilized within the informal service sector in urban ranges are likely to bear the foremost extreme beginning impacts. Within the immediate term, restricted access to high-quality and reasonable health services can have obliterated impacts on the occasion of an ailment within the family, whereas school closures also lead to a decrease in nourishment intake among children of destitute families who depend on school nourishing programs for more young children.

The participants' families, have multiple children and majorly have private employment, wherein during the lockdown, their salaries were either decreased or not provided on time. With limited resources, no financial support, and more duties to fulfill like supporting their children in overcoming the challenges of online learning.

All these reasons just increased the financial burden on the family. The lockdown has as of now excessively harmed marginalized communities due to the loss of jobs and the need for food, shelter, wellbeing, and other fundamental needs.

The covid- 19 widespread lockdown has encouraged students to utilize their smartphones in online classes and remains associated progressively.

Young people are utilizing a smartphone in COVID-19 widespread more frequently than before. Students helpfully obtain basic study materials due to simple internet networks and user -friendly modern innovations. Intemperate smartphone use among students includes a negative impact on existence disturbances, such as loss of attention at work, disruption in normal meals, decrease in output, breakdown in social connections, and the coexistence of mental and physical issues such as wrist pain, neck solidness, blurred vision, and unsettling influences in resting patterns.

9. In your opinion, how can these challenges be resolved?

 

Government should increment access to technology through organizations with mobile systems to give free or subsidized information for educational purposes. Include advanced services to social security schemes, customize existing learning applications to work on slower web connections, and contribute intensely to bringing a dependable power supply to indeed the foremost remote region.

Schemes and policies should be implemented for the students studying in the EWS category, government can also collaborate with NGOs to provide the necessary support. Apart from internet services, other support like food can be provided.

Numerous students depend on the structure and support of the in-person school to assist them to remain on track with assignments. Distance learning implies students got to be more autonomous and dependable on their learning. Families may be attempting to offer assistance, but many are too attempting to juggle work while their kids are learning at home. Once students get off track and miss some assignments, it can feel overwhelming to undertake to catch up. They may just withdraw instep.

Time management is the foremost critical factor in online learning. It needs time and exertion for way better learning results. One ought to know the components that can influence one's timings amid the learning process such as

Avoid Diversions – Attempt to dodge diversions that can influence your learning. Numerous platforms can lock in you for excitement and communication. But make sure that you simply set time for breaks and center on learning as scheduled to dodge missing live classes or sessions.

Create To-Do List – one can plan a list of exercises on an ordinary basis. Attempt to break down huge activities into littler ones for way better learning results. Utilize this list to handle each assignment. Make sure simply follow to the list and set up a schedule that can make time management hones simple.

Seek Help – To manage time amid online learning look for offer assistance from your guardians, companions, and families. So that you simply will not miss out on learning and at the same time work will be done.

Involve Yourself – one ought to appear up for all the exercises and learning amid the sessions. Make sure that one simply logs in each day, checks for the status, and show up in all the sessions and talks. Connect along with your friends and teachers for inquiring and sharing data.

Schedule Time for Learning – One has to stay to a study plan for successful learning. Take a break and continue back to learning with the same intrigued and excited.

Stay Positive – Make sure simply are positive around online learning. Perfectly make use of the time the most perfect way and pick up information for way better learning results.

Contribute to teachers and give them persistent support to be able to supply e-learning and remove education to all their students amid school closure and afterward through a mixed shape of instruction.

10. Were you able to express the issues you faced before and during the pandemic, to your concerned school authorities? How?

All the participants were able to express the issues they were facing during the pandemic to school authorities including their respective teachers majorly. There were not many issues faced by the students before the pandemic. However, the sudden outbreak of the virus that caused lockdown across the nations did bring waves of challenges.

"I was not able to attend classes initially, so when my teacher called my parents for the same, first my parents told them the issue that we have a poor network, moreover the data limit gets usually exhausted by ½ hours of zoom classes"- claimed by participant 1

“I told my teacher via a WhatsApp message, that I am facing all the network-related issues right now, so she asked me to just check to record until the situation is not fine"- participant 2

"My teacher herself contacted me regarding the same, she talked to my parents as well"- participants 3 and 4.

11. What steps did your school take to address your concerns?

 

The school authorities took the required steps to make online learning as adaptable as it can be.

In a case where students were unable to join classes on scheduled time due to network connectivity issues or any other reason, teachers provided the study material on WhatsApp and google classroom apps so that they can access it at their convenience. Also, all the classes conducted online were recorded and later uploaded by the teacher on Google Drive for students who missed them. The teacher also make a group on WhatsApp for students who needed extra classes.

Looking at the adverse situation of students, and understanding their concerns teachers feasibly took assessments. The assessments were designed taking the point under consideration that the students lagged during classes and their learning through online mode was also hampered. There was another option of taking a re-test in case the student couldn't perform well in a test.

COVID-19 and school closures affected numerous children and adolescents' mental wellbeing and well-being. As teachers, they knew it was fundamental to tune in to students' concerns and demonstrate understanding as well as sympathy. Offer the students the opportunity to have a one-to-one discussion with them to reconnect and examine any concerns that might have emerged when their school was closed. If a child shares anything that's especially concerning,

Lastly, to help students uphold their mental health, life-skills workshops were organized frequently, which cheered them up, and had a great time sharing and discussing their concerns with each other.

Awareness workshops were also organized for both parents and teachers, as they had many different thoughts, doubts, and questions about COVID-19. Moreover, students wanted factual information to know about what was happening around them.

12. Were you able to discuss your challenges with your parents? How did you inform them?

13. Do you believe sharing your challenges with your parents was helpful to you, and brought any kind of changes?

All the participants revealed that most of the concerns were visible to their parents. And they did all that they could do to help their children in such times. One of the major shifts happened in education as endeavors to stem the spread of the virus incited school closures. Schools steadily moved to online education, and parents were hence constrained to combine their normal occupations with supporting the education of their children.

From taking care of the health of the family to risking their own lives to get basic needs like food for the family. Standing in rows outside ration shops. They also bought expensive data packs to remove hindrances in the classes of their children. "my father talked to our neighbor who already had a wifi connection, for me to use it for 2-4 hours per day for my classes." – participant

Parents also provided their phones and internet to their children so that they could take classes without disturbances. It could change from parent to parent, but majorly it is by and large the same. At this crucial stage within the child's life, they are unimaginably connected to their guardians – particularly their mother. Moreover, it implies that anything influences the parents have on the child will remain with them until the end of time. Envision the positive effect it would have on the child's learning involvement and their information in case the parents used that connection which special bond to construct a learning environment at home – a place of consolation and emotional steadiness, and security.

 

14. What other kind of support did you receive to overcome these challenges? (Family/ friends) (NGOs/ Government)

 

Mazdoor Kitchen is a citizen-run intentional activity, working to supply suppers and subsistence to everyday wage laborers in North Delhi. Run by a committed group of volunteers comprising teachers, students, craftsmen, and individuals from the community itself, it has been giving suppers and proportion units to hundreds of individuals over North Delhi.

MCKS Food for the Hungry Foundation Delhi is a not-for-benefit organization begun in 2005. Imbued with Master Choa Kok Sui's teachings, the establishment looks to be the constrain bringing around the alter in and around us. They substantially influence the lives of individuals; coming out with food for the hungry and enabling them with aptitudes to move from losing hope to trust.

Concern India Establishment was set up in 1991 as an enlisted non-profit, open charitable trust to amplify budgetary and non-financial back to grassroots level NGOs working within the ranges of education, wellbeing, and community development.

The Uday Foundation is a non-profit organization based in New Delhi, India. disaster help. It began a campaign ‘StayWell’ to form and disseminate at slightest 10,000 Wellness Units – comprising a few basic over-the-counter medications, a tetra pack of sound drinks such as ORS, oximeter, etc.

The participants received ration and wellness kits from the above NGOs. the families also received free gas cylinders, under the Ujjwala Yojana, Families got free 5 kilograms of rice or wheat each month for a continuous three months, including a kilogram of favored pulse per family given every month to these families for the three months. The scheme moreover centered on giving installments to different sections of the society specifically into their bank accounts. This covered agriculturists, workers beneath the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, widow pensioners, disabled, women with Jan Dhan accounts, ladies running self-help bunches, beneficiaries of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, and construction workers.

E. Conclusion

The above analysis details that students enlisted in private schools beneath the Economically Weaker Section quota are battling to go to online classes due to the need for gadgets and high-speed Web and have been incapable to require their exams as well. Despite the Delhi government's accommodation within the progressing case—which said that beneath the Right to Education Act, schools ought to give equipment if such children were incapable to get online education —little has changed on the ground. Children's utilization of technology has collided with other purposes that piped into [children's] relaxation time. The school suspension included weight on children's points of view on deploying innovative gadgets to meet learning targets. There were supports available as well for the students to cover the technical lag as well.

V. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Year, since the Covid pandemic broke out in India, the digital partition proceeds to posture challenges in remote educating and learning, Educating and learning exercises had to move online when the widespread constrained the closure of schools and colleges. Whereas innovation guarantees that learning isn't suspended, the digital divide proceeds to form inaccessible learning into an "operational nightmare". A study by the Azim Premji Establishment appeared that nearly 60 percent of school children in India cannot get online learning opportunities.

Though computerized tutoring was the only consistent way forward to proceed with learning for children amid the widespread. But, there's a need to categorically address a few related issues for building a stronger framework in long run, regardless of whether routine tutoring or computerized is the essential way forward. Whereas progressing the cause of digitalization, these challenges must be accounted for, Access to innovation and the Web is a pressing necessity within the information age. It should not be an extravagance.

The right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 ('RTE Act') was passed to provide impact to Article 21A of the Constitution. Area 12(1)(c) orders all schools to save a least 25% of their seats for students from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Impeded Bunches (DG). The State government and nearby authorities share the duty of giving learning equipment and guaranteeing that children belonging to EWS or DG are not "prevented from seeking after and completing basic education on any grounds". Students require computers as well as internet access for online classes. This is often certainly an infrastructural challenge – but moreover an imperative constitutional one.

The Pandemic has changed the education division; it has pushed optimization in conveyance strategies. Schools and education institutions have been constrained to move online. A new normal has been made and it is educating online. Whereas a part of institutions has moved online by buying licenses for video conferencing devices, the question is, have they moved online? If offline conventional strategies of instructing are connected online, they can jeopardize (or constrain) the victory of the training. Various issues come in when moving from offline to online learning, how does one gives informal social interactions, how to guarantee student consideration, or indeed how to guarantee dynamic interest? Most schools or other institutions battle with these since neither their instructing material addresses this nor have they had training on this.

The other concern with diminished face-to-face interaction and the online environment is attention span, student motivation, lesson control, adoption of innovation, and technical issues (transfer speed, gadget issues, etc.). On innovation, zoom and other VC instruments are utilized around the world, there are issues in multi-student classes concerning the transfer speed of a specific student being poor and influencing the overall lesson quality, moreover, students utilizing portable hotspots endure from bundle loss driving to poor video quality.

Students' responses propose that their online learning challenges and techniques were intervened by the assets accessible to them, their interaction with their teachers and peers, and the school's existing approaches and rules for online learning. Within the setting of the widespread, the forced lockdowns and students' financial conditions exasperated the challenges that student involvement. Whereas most studies uncovered that technology use and competency were the foremost common challenges that students face during the online classes, the case could be a bit diverse here. As the findings have appeared, the learning environment is the most prominent challenge that students are required to hurdle, especially distractions at home (e.g., commotion) and restrictions in learning space and facilities.

This information proposes that online learning challenges amid the widespread some way or another change from the normal challenges that students’ involvement in a pre-pandemic online learning environment. One conceivable clarification for this result is that confinement in mobility may have exasperated this challenge since they might not go to the school or other learning spaces past the region of their particular houses, causing both mental and physical damage.

As appeared within the data, the inconvenience of lockdown limited students' learning encounters (e.g., internship and research facility experiments), restricted their interaction with peers and instructors, caused discouragement, stress, and uneasiness among students, and drained the monetary assets of those who belong to a lower-income bunch. All of these antagonistically affected students' learning encounters. families from lower financial strata have constrained learning space at home, access to quality Internet benefits, and online learning assets. The financial profile of the students is the same reason budgetary issues habitually surfaced from their reactions. These students regularly connected the lack of financial assets to their access to the Internet, instructive materials, and equipment essential for online learning.

In any case, students utilized an assortment of techniques to overcome the challenges they confronted amid online learning. For instance, to address the home learning environment issues, students talked to their family, studied at late night when all family individuals are sleeping already, and talked with their classmates and teachers. To overcome the challenges in learning assets, inquired about help from family members & companions and discussed the issue with their teachers.

Critical zones that require the most extreme attention incorporate (but are not constrained to) national and organization approaches, conventions and rules, technological infrastructure and assets, instructional conveyance, staff improvement, potential disparities, and collaboration among key partners (i.e., parents, students, instructors, school pioneers, industry, government education organizations, and community). the findings have extended the understanding of the diverse challenges that students might stand up to when we unexpectedly move to fully online learning, especially those from families with constrained assets, poor Web foundation, and destitute home learning environment.

A. Limitations

A few limitations in this study have to be recognized and tended to in future studies. One limitation of this study is that it only centered on students' viewpoints. Future studies may extend the sample by counting all other actors taking part within the teaching-learning handle.

Researchers may go more profound by exploring teachers' views and involvement to have a total view of the circumstance and how distinctive components associated between them or influence the others. Future studies may also distinguish a few teacher-related components that might impact students' online learning encounters. Within the case of students, their age, sex, and degree programs may be inspected in connection to the particular challenges and techniques they involve. The study was specific to students from specific classes, future studies may expand the learning context to different classes and schools.

 

B. Conclusion

The current study investigates the challenges that students experienced in an online learning environment and how the widespread affected their online learning experience. The findings uncovered that the online learning challenges of students changed in terms of type and degree. Their most prominent challenge was connected to their learning environment at domestic, whereas their last challenge was technological education and competency. Based on the students' responses, their challenges were moreover found to be exasperated by the widespread, particularly in terms of quality of learning experience, mental wellbeing, finances, interaction, and mobility.

The current study has complemented their findings on the educational, logistical, financial, technological, and psychosocial online learning challenges that students encounter inside the setting of the COVID-19 widespread.

Further, this study expanded past studies and our understanding of students’ online learning involvement by recognizing both the presence and degree of online learning challenges and by shedding light on the particular techniques they utilized to overcome them.

VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Though only my name appears on the cover of this dissertation, many people have contributed to its production. I owe my gratitude to all those people who have made this dissertation possible.

I would take this opportunity to thank my extraordinary supervisor, Monimalika Ma’am, who was bee extremely understanding throughout the process.

There were days when I wrote pages and also when I didn't write a word, but she was calm and patient all along. She was more of a friend than a supervisor, as I could text or mail her any time of the day and night and she responded almost every time with the speed of light! Thank you, ma'am for believing in me and bringing out the best in me.

VII. APPENDIX- INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Demographic Information-

Name, age

Which school are you enrolled in?

Which class are you currently studying in?

Have you changed school in past or studying in the same?

What is your parents’ profession?

What are your views on the school you're studying in? Have them changed over time?

1. What were the changes you observed during the lockdown?
2. What are your views on online learning?
3. To what extent were you able to participate in an online setting?
4. What mode of learning worked well for you, online or face-to-face?
5. What were some of the barriers you faced in joining online classes?
6. What was your experience during the lockdown period?
7. What were the challenges you faced during the shift from face-to-face mode to online mode of schooling caused by the covid-19 lockdown?
8. Did the Covid 19 lockdowns bring any challenges, and how?
9. In your opinion, how can these challenges be resolved?
10. Were you able to express the issues you faced before and during the pandemic, to your concerned school authorities? How?
11. What steps did your school take to address your concerns?
12. Were you able to discuss your challenges with your parents? How did you inform them?
13. Do you believe sharing your challenges with your parents was helpful to you, and brought any kind of changes?
14. What other kind of support did you receive to overcome these challenges? (Family/ friends) (NGOs/ Government)

References

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Copyright © 2023 Ritika Chauhan. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.