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Only 18% tribal students had access to online education: Ministry

New Delhi
February 11, 2021

Barely 18% of tribal students enrolled in residential schools had access to online education during the Covid-19 outbreak.

In the first indication of what could be a severe learning gap, data collated by tribal affairs ministry shows that 13,000 of the 73,391 students enrolled in 285 Eklavya Model Residential schools (EMRS), attended online classes in almost a year since the schools closed in March. As per the data, 38,000 students enrolled in STEP app, a gamified learning app. However, only 13,000 students � 17.77% of the total students � enrolled in EMRS, accessed the online classes. EMRS are premier schools funded by tribal affairs ministry and run by state governments that provide boarding and education for tribal students from classes 6 to 12 in remote districts.

With most states deciding to reopen schools, 148 of the 285 EMRS schools have reopened. These include 19 schools in Andhra Pradesh for Classes 7 to 12, two in Arunachal Pradesh (for Classes 8 to 10), Assam, Sikkim, Tripura and Mizoram (Classes 6 to 12), Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Karnataka (Classes 10 and 12), Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan (Classes 9 to 12). Six states � Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and West Bengal � have still not decided to reopen schools and are likely to take a call later this month.

The Centre, however, has no data on the attendance in the EMRS after reopening of schools. Secretary (tribal affairs) R Subrahmanyam said, �We do not have data as of now. But the attendance should be normal soon as the schools have reopened after a year."