Delhi: Migrant exodus a jolt as many first-generation learners at corporation schools leave

NEW DELHI: Vibha Singh, a principal at a municipal primary school in east Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar, is worried that a large number of her students — mostly children of migrant labourers and domestic workers — may have permanently left the city, undoing even the slow progress that these first-generation learners have made in classes.
Most of the students enrolled in the three municipal corporations’ primary schools come from extremely vulnerable sections of the society and the novel coronavirus lockdown has not only impacted them economically but have also affected the literary progress of an entire generation, said their teachers.
While the actual number will become clear only after a survey is carried out following the summer breaks, the loss of enrollment is expected to be massive, said Singh, vice-president of the teachers’ association. “In my school, most students are children of labourers who worked in shops and manufacturing units of Gandhi Nagar. At least half of them have left the city and are not likely to return this year,” she added.
An indicator may be the WhatsApp groups formed for online education during the lockdown. Teachers are reporting that many students have messaged saying they have reached home. Singh estimated that at least 20% of the students in east Delhi schools must have left.
The situation may be worse in the north. Kuldeep Khatri, who heads the Shikshak Nigam Nyay Manch, said at least 50% of the students must have gone back to their villages and it would also impact teachers as merger of schools would be inevitable if the enrollment fell severely. “At least 20% students had already left when WhatsApp classes started in April. It has more than doubled since trains have started,” Khatri said. “We get messages requesting for financial help and phone recharge,” he added.
After a recent high court order for doorstep delivery of ration to those who could not get it due to old coupons, a team of 30 teachers and civil defence personnel went to 469 houses, but couldn’t find anybody. “Houses are closed, phones are mostly switched off. Some say they have reached Madhya Pradesh, some say Cuttack in Odisha,” said a teacher at a Shalimar Bagh school.
Ashok Agarwal, a Supreme Court lawyer involved with education sector reforms, tweeted, “Over 25% (2 lakhs) students studying in MCD schools are yet to receive various kinds of scholarships and book subsidy and MCD Officials unable to trace students as their contacts unavailable. It seems impact of mass exodus of workers from Delhi (sic).” The corporations’ 1,653 schools have 7.9 lakh students.
While the estimates vary from area to area, teachers said schools had lost at least 25-30% of the students and many WhatsApp groups had fallen silent. A corporation official said the real situation could be assessed only in July when schools might reopen. “Right now both schools and online groups are closed due to the summer break. Enrollments have not taken place as the lockdown started in March. Hopefully our students will return,” he said.