Effect of Covid-19 Pandemic on Formal Education of Primary School Children (6-11 Years) Studying in Selected Municipal Corporation Primary Schools of East Delhi

Abstract

The sudden closure of schools in the Covid-19 pandemic has affected formal and informal education of the students especially belonging to socially disadvantaged groups. To explore the impact of this pandemic on the formal education of primary school children an online Google Meet Parent Teacher Meeting Survey was conducted after 16 months of school closure to learning pattern, reading material, reading frequency of Hindi and English, daily study, and its association with socio economic background. This web-based school study used descriptive design. A sample of parents of 400 students age group 6 to 11 years from fi ve selected schools of East Delhi Municipal Corporation available on Google Meet was selected through stratifi ed random sampling. Data was collected through a Structured Interview Schedule with closed ended multiple choice questions designed into Google doc forms and fi lled by researchers simultaneously during survey. Data was analysed using SPSS (26) software descriptive statistics. This study showed an increase in the variety of reading material availability for students as well as increased reading frequency per week of basic languages i.e., 33.8 percent to 90.3 percent for Hindi and 23 percent to 40.3 percent for English along with total study time per day, 39.2 percent to 78.6 percent. Further, guardian education and guardian income have a direct effect on reading frequency of primary school children and total study time during periods of lockdown. Parents' engagement and sensitisation is required for problems faced by the students in adaptation to online education to reduce learning gap and improve outcomes of teaching-learning process due to lockdown and sudden school closure. Reading material can be provided to students to sustain their interest and reading ability during Covid-19 pandemic.