COVID-19 exacerbates inequalities in education

By Saman Indrajith

COVID-19 had exacerbated inequalities in education because for many low-income students online courses were a poor substitute for in-person learning, Parliament was told yesterday.

Galle District SJB MP Gayantha Karunathilake said that not all students had access to online education that had being introduced by the government as a solution to disruptions to education caused by the pandemic control measures. “During the times of our government we tried to give every student a tablet computer, but that did not happen due to political problems. Now, some students do not have access to online education. Some have no Internet; some have no devices; some have no data and some have no mobile phone connections.

“In families where there are two or three children, how could their parents buy a phone each for them? This is not practically possible. At this rate, online education will be the final nail on the coffin of free education. This clearly creates a widening gulf between the rich and the poor. We appreciate the efforts of teachers engaged in virtual teaching. But will the government put in place mechanism to enable all student to benefit from online education? Despite these disparities, all children will have to sit the same examinations. We call upon the government to solve this problem.”

State Minister of Education Piyal Nishantha de Silva admitted that there were some issues pertaining to the closure of schools and introducing online education which is still new to this country. “We have already identified these issues. Discussions have been held. Even now at this moment Education Minister Prof GL Peiris is at the Presidential Secretariat attending a meeting to decide when to reopen schools. In this regard, The matters are being addressed and we hope we can find a solution.”