Where is Technology in their Education? Impact of Coronavirus Pandemic
on the Education System of Children from Indigenous Communities
Abstract
This paper presents the impact of COVID-19 on the education system of
children from indigenous communities in the state of Odisha, India.
Given the context, children from tribal communities or tribal areas are
educationally backward, not necessarily by ability but by lack of
resources. Overtime research points out the lack of technological
resources and its low usage among the stakeholders (i.e., children,
parents, and teachers) in tribal areas, but to what extent it could have
been an aid during this pandemic will remain unknown unless we find out
the problem areas. This study emphasizes one indicator i.e., the
technology, and reflects its existence in the lives of children from
indigenous communities. Drawing the base from reputed online newspapers
and global reports, the author first collected the headlines on
education, school closure and coronavirus pandemic. In the next step,
the newspaper information along with the Government datasets and reports
on technology usage assisted in charting three problem areas:
electricity in schools, computer laboratory in schools, and space for
technological resources. This paper links both the data and presents the
results in an explanatory process. The paper concludes that when parents
from well-off families struggle to control the overuse of technology
among their wards, there on the other, how online learning platforms can
be expected as a one-stop solution for the poor tribal, who are by force
made to fit in the urban-centric education system. Similarly, urban
counterparts having the advantage of electricity and computer facilities
in schools cannot be equated with the facilities that are not available
for the tribal children studying in Government schools without
electricity.