After COVID-19, floods hit Bihar schools

Patna: First, it was COVID-19. And now floods have badly affected the teaching of children in Bihar with a number of schools submerged in floodwaters.

The Bihar government on Monday allowed reopening of schools for students till Grade 8 after finding a sharp fall in cases of COVID-19. However, the government order has failed to serve any purpose due to the severe flood situation in many districts.

According to an official report, as many as 628 schools located in 12 districts of the state still remain closed as floodwaters have entered the schools. Of them, a maximum of 169 schools are located in Bhagalpur district, followed by 120 schools in Bhojpur and 72 in Patna districts. The other districts where teaching remains affected include Khagaria, Begusarai, Samastipur, Sitamarhi, Madhepura, Munger, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura and Buxur.

Teachers and students had to wade through waist-deep water to hoist the tricolour in many schools on Independence day. Video footage on social media shows teachers standing in waist–deep water unfurling the tricolour with the help of local villagers in vests and turbans in a government school located in Gogri sub-division of Khagaria district. Similar scenes were reported from Munger and Bhagalpur districts.

“We are worried about the continuing loss of studies due to floods. We are collecting full details from the districts and will try to make up the loss once the situation gets normal,” education secretary Sanjay Kumar said. He said the government had asked the schools to function with strict COVID-19 guidelines.

According to a UNICEF estimate, some 7.5 million children in Bihar could not study as only 36.5 per cent of them had internet access while just 3.5 per cent had computer facilities.

Another study conducted by Azim Premji Foundation said some 92 per cent children on an average have lost at least one specific language ability from previous year across all classes and 82 per cent of children on an average have lost at least one specific mathematical ability from the previous year across all classes. The study was conducted in January for Grades 1 to 6.

The attendance of children in schools also remains low. Government schools reported around 15 per cent attendance while this was around 30 per cent in private schools. Reports said several parents are still not in favour of sending their wards to schools due to the prevailing panic of COVID-19.