Shun education that’s only for the rich
Since independence, the government’s ambitious goal has been universalization of education – making education available to all children in the age group of 6 – 14 – which from 2002 is also guaranteed as the Right to Education. While the government’s success in achieving this ambitious goal is open for debate, what the government has successfully achieved is the creation of deep divisions in the Indian education system.
The divisions are many, for example, ‘Government Schools – Private Schools, ‘English Medium – Kannada medium’. These divisions, though seemingly innocuous, reflect the deep-rooted division in the society between the ‘haves and have-nots’. And this divide is increasing sharply than ever before.
Government schools are almost failing in their attempts to compete with the quality of education offered by most private schools that offer English medium education. Students studying in government schools are finding it difficult to meet the challenges of the real world. The government has for long-neglected the recommendation from experts to introduce a common school system at least till high school. One reason for this is the erosion of values in the concept of education that does not consider schools as temples of learning but as commercial, money-making ventures. Similar to five-star hospitals, five-star schools are being established and politicians are at the forefront to invest in these schools.
That the poor and those belonging to economically weaker sections were deprived of education based on their caste was one of the reasons for the government to set forth on ambitious goals after independence but privatization along with the commercialization of education has ensured that education remains the forte of the privileged few. The state of government schools is pathetic with the lack of students forcing many of them to close down and several existing ones suffering without adequate infrastructure. The challenges and the daily battles that parents, who send their children to government schools as they can’t afford private schools, face are many. At the same time, in the midst of all the gloom, there are also government schools which have received public support and have done wonders and won accolades. But this is a rarity.
In this post-Corona lockdown era that lies ahead of us, the already divided education system seems to be heading for the great ‘digital divide’ – an extension of the divide that already exists in the society - through ‘online education’ which we take great pride in. On the pretext that the Coronavirus might spread widely if schools re-open, online education is being offered and is converting homes into schools. Many state governments are taking huge strides in this direction by implementing online education and making sure that teachers conduct classes online and children attend classes on computers or smartphones and prepare for examinations.
This is similar to how digital banking was offered to people after Prime Minister Modi announced demonetization. But, the concept of digital banking did not reach people extensively as envisaged other than the rich and upper-middle classes in cities who could use technology. However, digital technology has led to a proliferation in online banking frauds. Instead of committing bank burglaries, the fraudsters are finding it easier to loot banks digitally. Now the government has unleashed digitalization to destroy the education system.
The recent uproar over the death of an elephant after being force-fed crackers in Kerala was understandable but our response to the suicide of a Dalit student Devika, in the same state because she could not access the online education system that the Kerala Government has introduced has been muted. This student had to attend online classes on a TV channel but the TV at her house was not working. Her father, a laborer and jobless due to the lockdown could not raise the money to get the TV repaired. Buying a smartphone was beyond their reach. The girl who was intelligent and perhaps feared that her future would be ruined was depressed and burnt herself to death. People who shed tears for the death of the elephant were not moved by the death of this student. Nobody was willing to understand that this was not suicide but murder.
Through her suicide, Devika has shown that the government’s decision to provide digital education is similar to an invitation for mass suicide of students belonging to the poor and weaker sections.
This tragic incident raises several significant questions around online education - access to digital technology without which the concept of online education is bound to fail. In Karnataka alone, only 26 lakh of the 48 lakh families with school-going children have smartphones, and, according to government estimates, about 40 percent of children would be out of the purview of this form of education. At the same time, children may not use smartphones for educational purposes even if their parents can afford them.
Added to this are the problems of malfunctioning smartphones or network connectivity issues. Online education is thus proving to be torturous for children of the middle class and the poor. Only the upper-middle class and the rich would then be in a position to maximize the benefits of online education. For children of government schools though, online classes will remain a mirage.
It is also likely that the move to embrace online education would prove detrimental to the education of the girl child. If homes become schools, it is unlikely that parents will encourage girls to learn as much as they encourage boys. Girls, along with those in the poorer and economically weaker sections, will thus be deprived of education.
Also, the rich and upper-middle-class strata can access different options for engaging their children in sports and cultural activities and not depend on the schools alone. But for the poor and the marginalized, schools are a hub for their all-round development. We should, therefore, make sure that education is not restricted to only the rich and privileged class. Even if there is a delay of two months, academic activities should begin only in schools and not a single child should be deprived of education because of the digital divide.
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SC pans EVM critics, asks them to remember ballot paper era when booth capturing was rampant
New Delhi, Apr 16: The Supreme Court on Tuesday deprecated criticism of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and calls for reverting to ballot papers, saying the electoral process in India is a "humongous task" and attempts should not be made to "bring down the system".
It also recalled how polling booths were captured in the era of ballot papers to manipulate election results.
The top court was hearing a batch of pleas seeking complete cross-verification of the votes cast using EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), an independent vote verification system which enables an elector to see whether his vote was cast correctly.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta was critical of the argument that many European countries have gone back to ballot papers after having tried out voting machines.
"This is a humongous task. No European country can do this. You talked about Germany but what is the population there. My home state West Bengal is far more populous than Germany. We have to repose faith and trust in the electoral process. Don't try to bring down the system like this," Justice Datta told advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO 'Association for Democratic Reforms'.
Bhushan had pitched for a return to ballot papers while citing the German example.
The bench said there were roughly 98 crore registered voters in India. "There will be some mismatch in vote count due to some human errors but it can be countered and checked," it said.
Justice Khanna, while referring to booth capturing in the past, said, "Mr. Bhushan, we are all in our 60s. We have seen what used to happen earlier when there were no EVMs. We don't need to tell you."
Maintaining that he is not casting any aspersion on the Election Commission or saying that EVMs have been manipulated, Bhushan said his only point is that these polling machines can be tinkered with.
Normally, human intervention in a process creates problems including bias, while machines, without any wrong human intervention, work properly and give accurate results, Justice Khanna told Bhushan.
The bench posed a barrage of questions to the Election Commission officials present in the court about the functioning of EVMs, their storage and the possibility of data manipulation.
"We want you to apprise us of each and every detail from point A to Z on the EVMs, right from their assembling to storage after the counting of votes," the bench told senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the Election Commission.
Bhushan said he also wants that every voter should be allowed to collect the paper slip of his vote cast from the VVPAT machine and drop it into the ballot box. He also sought reversal of the poll panel's decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass through which a voter can see the slip only when the light is on for seven seconds.
He alleged that two public sector undertakings--Bharat Electronic Ltd and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECILL)--have as its directors people who are associated with ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The bench asked Singh whether it is possible to subject EVMs to technical evaluation to rule out any foul play after the counting of votes is over.
Singh urged the court to not indicate any such thing without hearing the poll panel on the issue as it would create unnecessary confusion.
"Don’t be apprehensive. We are not indicating any such thing but are only soliciting a response," Justice Khanna told Singh.
The bench also asked the poll panel to apprise it about the punishment prescribed under the law for someone who manipulates EVMs.
"If some manipulation is done, then what is the consequence? What is the punishment prescribed under the law? Tell us. This is a very serious thing because there should be some fear of the consequences," the court told Singh.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for activist Arun Kumar Agrawal, who has sought a complete count of VVPAT slips in polls, submitted there should not be even an iota of doubt about the electoral process and the Election Commission should ensure that.
He claimed after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a parliamentary committee had found discrepancies in EVM data but the Election Commission never responded to the panel.
"There are very high chances of error. We always blame the population for everything including the number of cases clogging our judicial system. We should focus on the system so that there is no iota of doubt in the mind of even a single voter," he said.
During the nearly two-hour-long hearing, several advocates appearing for different petitioners addressed the court, with some suggesting use of bar codes to reduce chances of manipulation of EVMs. One of them claimed conflict of interest on part of members of the technical committee of the election commission, saying they were the inventors and designers of the EVMs.
The hearing remained inconclusive and would resume on April 18.
The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls will begin on April 19.
The ADR has sought matching the count in EVMs with votes that have been verifiably "recorded as cast" and to ensure that the voter is able to verify through VVPAT slip that his vote, as recorded on the paper slip, has been "counted as recorded".
