Supporting teachers in India during COVID-19: A civil society organization’s response

• In Event: Disrupted Education in the Time of COVID: Student, Teacher, and Institutional Impacts

Proposal

Beginning in March 2020, India shut down its schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, “locking” children out of schools for over 17 months. Prior to COVID-19, 55% of India’s children faced learning poverty. COVID-19 exacerbated children’s learning loss, with barely 8% of rural children engaged in learning since schools closed. When schools are closed, children are not engaged in learning and extended school closures increase the danger of children dropping out of school. Learning loss has a lifetime impact on the civic and economic participation of disadvantaged students and increases their vulnerability to exploitation.

The government, civil society and private stakeholders have come together to support children during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the largest provider of educational services, the government has not been as quick to adapt to the challenges of COVID-19. Many civil society organizations have stepped up to fill the challenges posed by the pandemic including food scarcity, migrant concerns, healthcare and education. The guiding research question for this descriptive case study is: How does a civic society organization support sustainable solutions for teachers to educate children during COVID-19 in India? Data for the study are drawn from interviews with the CSO’s staff and the teachers they supported, and other documentation and physical artifacts.

The Center for Equity and Quality in Universal Education (CEQUE) upskills public school teachers to improve learning outcomes for children living in underserved rural and urban districts in India. In 2020-21, CEQUE’s Teacher Innovator Program (TIP) of practice responded to the changing context of schools for teachers and students. Teachers could no longer meet and teach their students in a school building. Responding to the school closures, CEQUE adjusted TIP and supported 300 teachers to develop sustainable solutions to teach over 5,000 students.

To understand how CEQUE supported sustainable solutions to support teachers during the pandemic, we analyzed individual interviews, artifacts of teacher developed resources and student work and documentation of teacher work during COVID-19. CEQUE responded to teacher and student needs through quick adaptations in response to needs that emerged on the ground. At the start of COVID-19, in March 2020, roughly 35% of students of the teachers in TIP were enrolled regularly in school. CEQUE trained teachers to examine enrollment data and provided support for teachers to locate their students. As part of the process of locating students, teachers discovered that kids were beyond the digital divide and that digital devices were not the solution. Teachers suggested that low tech resources and workbooks would go a long way in helping them engage with students on the other side of the digital divide. Collaboratively, CEQUE created 160 audio-visual resources that required low bandwidth. In addition, CEQUE created workbooks in Math and Language aligned to specific grade level curriculum.

The study will shed light on the pathways of response to an educational emergency. Initial findings reveal the importance of collaboration with teachers and the importance of communities and families in building sustainable support for teachers.

Author

• Peggy Kong, Drexel University School of Education