India has the second-largest school system in the world after China. While government schools in India provide free education, nearly half of students choose to attend private schools.

Schools in India have been closed for nearly 500 days, barring brief reopening periods. During this time, all schools—government and private—had to modify their approach to teaching and learning. Private schools, particularly, struggled to survive due to defaulting fee collection. Other private service providers such as online edu-tech platforms and informal providers such as home tutors and coaching centers became more relevant to fill gaps emerging in the system.

Under this project, the research led by Prashant Narang, Senior Fellow, Research and Policy Training at the Centre for Civil Society seeks to objectively document the pivoted services offered by government schools, private schools, and other formal and informal service providers during the pandemic and understand how parents perceived these services. The project  will also assess children's learning outcomes to check if there has been a drop compared to previous studies.

Over the next year, a total of 6,000 parents/guardians will be surveyed in one low-income state in India, using random sampling. This data will showcase how and to what extent various players were able to address the educational needs of low-income children during the pandemic and contribute to their overall well-being.