Lockdown And Students Of Mumbai University: BUCTU’s Survey
Tapati Mukhopadhyay, Madhu Paranjape
Impact of Lockdown On Students in Colleges Affiliated to the University of Mumbai: Report of a Survey Conducted by BUCTU
This is an abridged report of a survey undertaken by the Bombay University and College Teachers Union (BUCTU) among students in colleges affiliated to University of Mumbai, in the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic broke out from Wuhan in central China from December 2019, and then spread to Western European countries, America, followed by other nations, including India. To prevent its spread, a complete ‘lockdown’ — that is closure of all economic, social, and educational activities — was introduced in India from March 25, 2020. It continues even today on some levels, albeit with the opening of some economic and other activities. Millions of people have suffered health and economic crises; students have been suffering the most due to the disruption of their academics as well. Online classes that are started as an alternative to regular classes due to closure of educational institutes all over the world, have remained beyond the reach of students belonging to economically weaker sections.
According to a UNESCO report, almost half of total learners, estimated to be 826 million students, are kept out of the classroom because they do not have access to a household computer.
The BUCTU carried out this data-based survey during July 2020 for assessing the impact of lockdown on higher education. The survey was conducted among college students in districts within the jurisdiction of the University of Mumbai. A structured questionnaire (in Marathi and English) via Google Forms was sent out to students of all classes through their teachers. It received response from 22,864 students.
General Profile of Respondents
Proportion of females was 65.2% and that of males was 34.8%
68% – Open Category
17.8% – OBC
8.5% and 3.4% – S.C and ST respectively
Rest were DT/NT
Faculty-wise proportions:
35.5% – Arts
35.3% – Commerce
21% – Science
7.5% – Technology
A miniscule 0.7% – Interdisciplinary
48.2% respondents – urban areas (Mumbai 42.5%, Navi Mumbai 5.7%)
28.2% – Thane district, where there is a mix of both urban and rural
23.7% – districts with mostly rural background, viz. Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg
Economic Status of Respondents
The impact of the long months of lockdown on the economy in general and employment in particular has been devastating, almost all over the world. Official data reveal that the Indian economy declined almost by 24% during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. As per CMIE reports, joblessness in India increased gradually and reached 23% by the end of April 2020.
It is revealed that 80% of the respondents’ families have single earning member. Further, 93% have reported a single profession as the main family profession. Our respondents come from a cross-section of the society. Hence the occupational profiles of their families have district level characteristics.
Government service – 14%
Private service and self-employment dominate the metropolitan regions: Mumbai (77%), Navi Mumbai (66%) and Thane (72%)
Predominance of Primary Sector jobs (Farming/ Fishing) in Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg (46%)
Palghar has the highest proportion (15.8%) of those employed in Industry — though the overall proportion is about 8%
Working students – 19% among females, 32% among males
Impact of Lockdown on Family Incomes
The survey examined the effect of the lockdown on family incomes of respondents. The variation of this impact across districts and occupational profiles was also analysed.
Overall, 80.7% respondents have reported that their families have suffered loss of income:
Palghar and Sindhudurg – 82%.
Ratnagiri and Raigad – 78.8% and 76.5% respectively.
Proportion of those who have reported loss of income is highest among those Self-Employed – 90.2%, followed by those employed in Private Service/Industry – 83%
It was observed to be lowest among those in Government Service – 58%
Statistically, the association of impact on family’s income with, both, districts and family’s main profession was observed to be highly significant.
Impact of Lockdown on Education
Parents’ income is the major source of funding for the education of 88.7% respondents; student’s own income in case of 4.7% respondents, and rest through freeships.
28% – able to pay the fees for 2020-21
45% – able to pay by instalments
Remaining 28% – unable to pay any fee
In the previous year (2019-20), the majority of the respondents (71%) had paid fees in lump sum:
The economically weaker section (29%) had paid in installments.
From this vulnerable section:
Presently, 37% – cannot pay fees
59% – can pay in installments, indicating the worsened situation of fee payment.
18% respondents informed that during the lockdown, they have gone to their native place — and may not be able to come back unless situation becomes conducive.
This section has highlighted the imminent likelihood of large section of students dropping out of higher education due to loss of family incomes.
Resources for Online Education
Devices
It is observed that 72.1% possessed only one of the three devices: Smartphones (68.8%), Laptops (3.1%), Tablets (0.2%)
Only 1.4 % of the students did not possess any smart communication device except Cable/Dish TV
The rest 26.5% possessed multiple devices
In all 95%, respondents possessed smartphones with or without other devices. This finding is not inconsistent with the restriction imposed by our survey tool viz. Google Forms in reaching out to those students who have no access to these devices.
Internet
It is observed that 77% students could access the internet through mobile-data, and 30.2% have Wi-Fi at home
These proportions are inclusive of the 14% who have access to both
Less than 6% have claimed to have no access to the internet
Only 1% could access the internet in cybercafés or through the facility provided in their college
Online Learning
Though 94.3% respondents reported to have access to the internet, not many are in a position to find the shift to online classes easy.
It is observed that 40% had difficulty in switching over to the online mode, due to internet connectivity problems, irregular electricity, and financial reasons. This proportion is the highest (45.4%) where the family has suffered higher income loss and lowest (31.5%) where the family has not suffered income loss.
The observations from this section highlight that a large section of students does not have the necessary devices to continue their online learning. The impact of the lockdown on family income has perceptibly influenced their ability to participate in online education.
Suggestions and Recommendations
1) The survey covers mainly the open category and urban students. To overcome this limitation of the present survey, a comprehensive survey — perhaps offline — may be undertaken in tribal areas in near future.
2) A composite demand list should be prepared for backward and deprived classes, mainly in rural areas, to provide the basic facilities required for education. This should include an expansion of rural electrification, the infrastructure for schools and colleges, including computer labs with a strong WiFi connection. Data packs and 4G mobile phones, and the like, need to be provided to poor students at cheaper prices.
3) For the above provisions, budgetary allocation for education must be increased substantially and non-salary grants should be re-introduced.
4) All teaching and non-teaching posts should be filled up on a regular basis, with payment of present scales of salary.
5) Vocational training must be encouraged in rural and tribal areas — this will give opportunity for future employment.
Follow-up
As the first step towards the suggested tasks, the BUCTU conducted a state-level Webinar on 16 October 2020 titled, “Impact of Present COVID19 Crisis on Education, Health and Livelihoods of Tribals – Special Reference to Thane-Palghar Districts”. Dr. Tapati Mukhopadhyay delivered the Presidential Address. There were eight speakers invited — principals, teachers, social activists — those working in the tribal population-dominated talukas of Thane-Palghar districts. The webinar adopted a resolution outlining the issues of tribal students to be raised with the government and the tasks ahead.
Follow us for regular updates:
Telegram
t.me/studentstrugglein
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/studentstrugglemonthly
WhatsApp
https://chat.whatsapp.com/BvEXdIEy1sqIP0YujRhbDR