Context: According to a survey conducted by ICRIER and LIRNEAsia, a think tank focusing on digital policy, remote education was inaccessible to most children in India.
What is remote learning?

• Remote learning is where the student and the educator, or information source, are not physically present in a traditional classroom environment. Information is passed on through technology such as discussion boards, video conferencing and online assessments.

About the survey

• The survey covered a nationally representative sample of 7,000 households. Only Kerala was excluded, due to high COVID-19 cases. 

Key findings of the survey

• Access to Remote Education: Only 20% of school-age children in India had access to remote education during the pandemic. Among them, only half participated in live online lessons.
• Dropped out of School: Around 38% of households said at least one child had dropped out of school due to COVID-19.
• Access to the Internet: Around 64% of all households with enrolled school-age children had internet access, while the remaining 36% did not have access to the internet.
• Among children aged 5-18 years, the survey found that 80% of those who were enrolled in schools prior to the pandemic did not receive any educational services at all during school closure.