Narendra Modi was eloquent on Tuesday about how “easily (sehejta se)” students, teachers and parents embraced e-learning amid the pandemic, prompting an academic to say that the Prime Minister “Is unaware of the education crisis or is in denial. of it ”.

A survey released on Monday found that children in marginalized sections had been largely excluded from internet education, with students in grades III to V unable to read even a simple sentence in Hindi or their native language after a year of closure. schools.

“My friends, in these corona times you have all shown how robust our education system is. There were a lot of challenges, but you all quickly got over them. Online courses, group video calls, online projects, online exams – many people hadn’t even heard these words before. But our teachers, parents and young people easily incorporated all of this into our daily lives, ”Modi said at the Shikshak Parv conclave organized by the Ministry of Education attended by teachers and students.

When The Telegraph contacted academic Jean Drèze, one of the authors of the investigation whose results were released on Monday, he said by email: “The Prime Minister’s statement today suggests that he does not ‘is not aware of the school crisis, or (is) of it. Either way, it’s very worrying.

The Prime Minister insisted on advancing online education.

“Now is the time to advance those capabilities and give new direction to what we have learned in these difficult times. Fortunately, on the one hand, the country now has an environment conducive to change and, at the same time, there is a modern and futuristic policy like the new national education policy, ”Modi said.

Multiple surveys show how online education has failed to reach marginalized and impoverished sections and how they have fallen behind.

The erratic or nonexistent internet in the vast Indian hinterland and the lack of devices to participate in online classes have together kept millions of children away from online learning.

The SCHOOL study published on Monday, led by academics Nirali Bakhla, Drèze, Vipul Paikra and Reetika Khera, found that around 42% of rural children and 35% of urban children in classes III to V were unable to read a single word. with a single sentence.

The survey pointed out that the reach of online education is extremely limited. The proportions of surveyed children who “regularly” study online were only 24% and 8% in urban and rural areas, respectively. One reason was that 49% of rural households and 23% of urban households surveyed did not have a smartphone.

The standing parliamentary committee on education headed by BJP chief Vinay Sahasrabuddhe cited several surveys to highlight the limited reach of online education and the loss of learning due to the closure of schools since March 2020.

Professor NK Ambastha, former president of the National Institute of Open Education, said some improvements have been seen over the past and a half years in expanding the reach of online education, but that there was still some way to go.

“There is no hard data on the percentage of students unable to access online education. The reach of online education has undoubtedly increased. However, some villages may not have sufficient facilities for online education. It’s not all success or all failure, ”Ambastha said.