Learning disabilities

Schooling in India remains subpar

It is now clear that the Covid-19 pandemic has taken its toll on school education, deepening the digital divide between urban affluent haves and the urban poor and rural have-nots. But deep systemic weaknesses in education delivery have serious implications for India’s future, too. This was the broad point of Unesco’s 2021 State of the Education Report. Its title, “No Teachers, No Class”, succinctly captures the crisis. The findings suggest a staggering 1,10,000 schools are single-teacher entities, and that nearly a fifth (19 per cent) of positions in schools lie vacant, the bulk (69 per cent) in rural areas. In