Don’t miss reading – ‘Loss of Learning during the Pandemic’. This was a report published by Azim Premji University sometime in Feb 2021. This was shared by a Science teacher in my school and I also happened to read comments about this report when it was posted on LinkedIn. This study was undertaken to test the foundational abilities lost by students in Primary Schools due to prolonged lockdown in Specific subjects like Mathematics and Languages. The study also points out how this learning gap could be shrunk by providing appropriate support by the schools and the community at large.

The research of identifying the loss of foundational abilities in students who have moved from class 1 to class 3 – was carried out in public schools of few specific states. One of the serious concern is about the skills in language acquisition – like not being able to identify a word in print in languages; not being able to frame sentences, tell stories using pictures . Similarly In Mathematics, students seems to have lost their abilities to find numbers (at the primary level) and the ability to perform simple arithmetic computations (at the middle school level). The loss of these abilities is bound to impact learning skills of students as they get promoted and probably, at that point the tutor and the the taught will not have the time to rectify this gap.

The research also highlights some students love for learning in rural areas and how eagerly they are waiting for their schools to re-open. Contrarily, there are students who have taken up odd jobs to support their families and have lost interest in education.

Time to step up and do something about it.