布鲁金斯学会-EDE技术与新冠疫情学校关闭期间的教育机会（英）-2021.8-30页_8mb

Summary of Ed Tech and Educational Opportunity During the COVID-19 School Closures in Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Core Content

This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on educational opportunity in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, with a focus on how education technology (ed tech) usage and access varied across different student characteristics and school types. It highlights the disparities in educational engagement and resource availability, especially between government and private schools, and between low- and high-socioeconomic status (SES) households. The study also explores the role of parents in supporting remote learning and the challenges they and students faced.

Main Findings

Pre-COVID-19 Education Technology Use

• Digital device usage in classrooms was minimal, with only 8% of students using them daily or almost daily.
• Ed-tech use outside of classrooms was also limited, with 14% of children using educational websites or platforms before or after school.
• No significant variation in access to educational websites or platforms was observed by household income or gender.

School Enrollment and Remote Instruction During Closures

• 2% of children discontinued school enrollment during the closures.
• 20% of children were in schools that offered no remote instruction.
• 82% of children were in schools that had started some form of remote instruction.
• Only 57% of children in schools with remote instruction attended all classes.
• 19% of children did not attend any remote classes.

Reasons for Non-Attendance in Remote Classes

• Lack of access to devices and parents' inability to pay school fees were the top barriers.
• Other reasons included parents having other responsibilities, children's disinterest in online classes, difficulty understanding online content, health issues, and parental illiteracy.

Socioeconomic and Gender Disparities

• High-SES households and private school students had greater access to digital devices and were more engaged in educational activities.
• Girls were more likely than boys to have access to digital devices and engage in educational activities regularly, despite no significant difference in gender composition between school types.
• Low-SES households faced more challenges in accessing educational resources, with 18% more likely to have no access to any of the resources included in the survey.
• Government school students were more likely to have access to television (17% more than private school students), but less likely to have access to smartphones and internet phones.

School Type Differences

• Private schools had better access to most educational resources except television.
• Government schools had more access to television but less access to digital tools.
• 67% of children in the sample attended private, unaided schools, 26% attended regular government schools, and 7% attended private, government-aided schools.

Fee Changes During School Closures

• Government schools and government-aided private schools were less likely to change fees or inform parents of changes.
• Private, unaided schools were more likely to reduce fees (40% of parents reported this), which may have influenced enrollment decisions.

Engagement by Grade Level

• Students in higher grades (4–6) had greater access to educational resources compared to those in lower grades (K–3).
• Television and Wi-Fi access showed the largest differences by grade level.

Key Information

• Sample Size: 201 households and 271 primary-school-aged children were surveyed.
• Socioeconomic Status (SES): Households were divided into low and high SES based on asset indicators.
• Primary Caregiver: Most children (73.6%) were cared for by their mothers, followed by fathers (23.4%).
• School Type: Private schools were more prevalent, with 67.2% of children attending them.
• Gender Distribution: 52% of children were female, 48% male.
• Educational Resources:
  • Smartphones and internet phones were more common in high-SES households.
  • Television was more accessible to low-SES households.
  • Access to computers and tablets was very limited across all groups.

Implications

The study underscores the deepening educational inequality exacerbated by the pandemic. Students from high-SES households and private schools had better access to ed tech and were more engaged in remote learning. In contrast, students from low-SES households and government schools faced significant barriers to accessing digital resources and participating in remote instruction. The findings suggest that policymakers must prioritize equitable access to learning resources and support for remote education to prevent long-term learning losses and ensure educational continuity.

Conclusion

The use of ed tech during the pandemic has revealed existing disparities in access and engagement. While it has the potential to enhance learning, its effectiveness is limited without adequate infrastructure and support. The study calls for strategies to address these inequalities, particularly for disadvantaged students, to ensure that the pandemic does not further widen the educational gap.