The 17-month long closure of primary and upper-primary schools in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in “catastrophic consequences” for students, according to a recent survey. The impact was particularly severe in rural India, where only 8% of school students have been able to access online education. At least 37% have stopped studying altogether, says the ‘Emergency Report on School Education’ compiled by researchers in coordination with economist Jean Dreze. Nearly 100 volunteers spoke to 1,400 children and covered 1,362 sample households in 15 States for the School Children’s Online and Offline Learning (SCHOOL) survey, The Hindu reports.

The survey presented an “absolutely dismal” picture of the state of education, especially in rural areas, with nearly half of the children sampled found struggling to read beyond a few words.

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One reason for the small percentage of children taking online classes– 24% in cities and 8% in villages– is the absence of smartphones in many sample households, the study says.

Only a third of the children with access to smartphones were studying online in cities and about 15% in the villages because of adults. The survey also found that only 9% of the children had their own phones.

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The prolonged closure of schools also led to the discontinuation of midday meals for students enrolled in government schools with about 80% of parents reporting having received as substitute “some food (mainly rice or wheat)” during the three months preceding the study.

“Most parents feel that their child’s reading and writing abilities have gone down during the lockdown,” the survey said.

There survey reported overwhelming support for the reopening of schools from parents with just 10% in urban areas expressing reservation over sending their children to school.

The researchers said steps for reopening of schools were “virtually invisible” in many states and would take years of patient work to repair the damage caused to the education system.