#RightToLearn: Here’s What Indian Parents & Educators Tweeted Against The Ban on Online Education

Hashtags are the new weapon of revolution in the millennium, especially when used by a community that is unhappy about certain things like the violation of rights for education. Recently, the hashtag #RightToLearn went viral surfacing the thoughts of agitated parents and educators from across India. 

On 21 June 2020, between 2-6 pm IST, over 40,000 tweets showed up with the hashtag #RightToLearn. A group of concerned parents from Bengaluru started this campaign's first phase on 14 June 2020 and looking at the success, the second phase was launched and joined by parents of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh along with the educators, who raised objections on the decision of blanket ban by the government on online education for pre-primary classes. 

Here's what they said:

Dr Swati Popat Vats, a veteran in education for younger children and President of Early Childhood Association (ECA) & APER, tweeted, “#righttolearn Every child in India has the right to safe, accessible learning. #DigitalIndia needs to be used during this pandemic, to ensure every child even in early years has remote access to teachers.”

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ECA, that works for the benefit of preschoolers, added, “#righttolearn All parents want their children to learn, and some of them in their decision to continue this learning for children, may end up hiring private online tutors!”

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Francis Joseph, an educator and co-founder, School Leader Network Foundation, said, “The Academic Pandemic is more dangerous than the Corona #pandemic. We are almost there. #righttolearn.”

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Apart from the educators, parents also demanded consistency and a feeling of normalcy for their children until the schools reopen. A parent named Shweta Sharan tweeted, “Here are my thoughts for the day. The GoK has banned online classes till grade 5. The reason is screen time but surprisingly, Byjus and other apps are allowed. What is happening? Here's why this blanket ban will set us back by many years #righttolearn.”

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In fact, active Parent Associations like First Moms Club, too, raised the collective voice of their members and wrote, “#RightToLearn How will the children of India be ready for a digital India if the government bans online learning. Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time.”

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Fatema Agarkar, a brilliant edupreneur, educator and a concerned mother, tweeted, “Overwhelming statistics for parents to want to keep their kids back home. In that case we need the virtual engagements to be more seamless and if required ready for in-school and at-home learning depending on the spikes. Case for no ban #righttolearn”

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We appreciate the fact that when it came to the future of the youngest citizens of our country, parents/educators/guardians seemed to think alike. These tweets show how, amidst the pandemic, we are equally worried about the mental well-being and holistic development of children.

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In another tweet by ‘MOMster365,’ the user pointed out something interestingly hypocritic – “We use the Arogya Setu App to help with contact tracing. We use digital payment apps to prevent the possible spread of coronavirus through currency. We have embraced technology in other sectors during this pandemic, then why this tech aversion in education? #righttolearn.”

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As a result of these feisty tweets, a couple of online surveys emerged, asking parents when they plan to send their children to school. The answers were very obvious as most of the parents said 'not before the COVID-19 vaccine comes out.' However, the main question remains for younger children, are they going to have absolutely no connection with their school, teachers, classmates, etc. until then?

ScooNews’ CEO, Ravi Santlani, who has been a constant voice in the sector of education for years now, supported the Twitter uprising with a much-worried thought. He wrote, “Online learning banned in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. Reason: Screen-Time, Result: Learning Interrupted, Now What: PubG, Fortnite, Psych, Youtube, TV, Ludo, Playstation, Netflix, Mobile Games, Snapchat etc. Result: Increased & Unproductive Screen time.” 

This kind of reaction online, on such a mass level, shows how much the ban is bothering both the parents and the educators. To support the campaign, Mad About Ed created some interesting e-posters. Have a look!

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ScooNews thinks that the online campaign of #RightToLearn is a powerful one and will somehow succeed in breaking the monotony in a child’s life that is happening because of the relentless rulemaking. We understand that it’s difficult to take everyone’s liking into consideration, especially when it comes to bringing out rules for the common masses’ favour. However, in this case, these parents and educators are merely asking to be heard.

What do you think about the entire ban and the public's response to it? Write to us in the comment section.