By failing to prioritise education, Modi government and the states are harming India’s future

Sarwari Jahan is an Accredited Social Health Activist in her early 30s who works with a primary health clinic near Lucknow’s Jama Masjid. Her only daughter, Zoya, was in Class 6 before the pandemic-induced lockdown shut all schools across India in 2020.

Zoya, who was studying at a government school in the city’s Chowk area, used to look forward to her classes, meeting her friends, participating in extra-curricular activities (particularly dance) and sports (mostly badminton) before the pandemic.

But after the lockdown was put into effect in March 2020, schools abruptly switched to a “remote-learning” mode, communication with teachers could take place over only over smartphones. Meetings with friends was not possible and there were no extra-curricular activities.

Jahan was among the people researchers from the Centre for New Economics Studies interviewed as part of a project in Lucknow and Pune to assess the impact of the pandemic on lives and livelihoods.

When classes moved online, she bought a smartphone for her daughter for Rs 6,000 from her savings. But over time, Sarwari observed that Zoya had lost her motivation to study and her attention was trailing off. For most days, the scheduled online classes did not take place. For someone who enjoyed group-based learning exercises, Zoya found herself…

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