Chennai: Undoubtedly, Covid-19 has left a debilitating impact on the learning abilities of children in countries and states that do not have access to the latest technologies and affected the vast majority of their populations. Whereas, advanced countries plugged this gap with their technological capabilities. However, in India, the Tamil Nadu government implemented the Illam Thedi Kalvi Scheme (ITKS) to correct the learning disabilities caused by 18 months of lack of school instruction during the pandemic.
A study by a team from the University of California revealed that the TN government could restore the learning abilities of over 60 percent of students to pre-Covid levels with the help of the ITKS scheme. In the other States of India, the correction is claimed to be 30 to 40 percent. The study was conducted by Professor Karthik Muralitharan, Abhijit Singh, and Mauricio Romero.
Giving details of their study, Prof Muralitharan said, "The Coronavirus of 2019 has affected learning worldwide. Learning activities were carried out in developed countries through technological tools. But socially disadvantaged people in developing countries had faced a lot of difficulties." When the students were unable to go to school for a gap of about 18 months due to Covid-19, Tamil Nadu launched the ITKS scheme. Prof Muralitharan and his team studied the learning restoration of 19,000 students in 220 villages in 4 districts of Tamil Nadu covered under the Illam Thedi Kalvi Scheme.
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The improvements made under TN's ITKS scheme were shared by officials of World Bank's Education Division on their Twitter page who said that this action of the Tamil Nadu government is commendable. Prof Muralitharan also said that they have suggested to the government to continue to implement the Illam Thedi Kalvi Scheme.
This research paper has also been invited to be presented at the UN Conference of Ministers of Education. Prominent educationists have praised this article as a very correct and quick response to learning disabilities worldwide post-Corona and they have lauded the Tamil Nadu government's action.
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Ilam Bhagwat, Special Officer of the Home Search Education Program, said, "In the research of the University of California, it has been reported that two-thirds of the learning losses caused by Corona infection have been corrected through the Illam Thedi Kalvi Scheme. Students are well versed in subjects like Maths and Tamil. Illam Thedi Kalvi Scheme will continue for another six months. Learning shortcomings in government and government-aided schools have been addressed through volunteer teaching".
