Sarwari Jahan is an Accredited Social Health Activist in her early 30s who works with a primary health clinic near Lucknow’s Jama Masjid. Her only daughter, Zoya, was in Class 6 before the pandemic-induced lockdown shut all schools across India in 2020.
Zoya, who was studying at a government school in the city’s Chowk area, used to look forward to her classes, meeting her friends, participating in extra-curricular activities (particularly dance) and sports (mostly badminton) before the pandemic.
But after the lockdown was put into effect in March 2020, schools abruptly switched to a “remote-learning” mode, communication with teachers could take place over only over smartphones. Meetings with friends was not possible and there were no extra-curricular activities.
Jahan was among the people researchers from the Centre for New Economics Studies interviewed as part of a project in Lucknow and Pune to assess the impact of the pandemic on lives and livelihoods.
When…