How inclusive is online education in India: Lessons from the Pandemic
M S Navaneeth, Ismail Siddiqui
Abstract
Online education has acquired a renewed interest all over the world, due to the ravaging restrictions imposed by the Covid pandemic. In the Indian context, the question remains is that “is the online medium inclusive enough to be deemed a solution?” As classes shift online and pedagogy relies on technology, it becomes imperative to ensure that no one lags behind and education remains accessible to the last learner. The issue of universality of the access to the Internet in India mingles with various socio-economic disparities that hinder its progress. This paper attempts to analyse and bring forward the factors that may contribute to the stark contrasts with regards to the success of the online education scene in India, ranging from accessibility, gender, socio-economic factors to the policy issues.