Abstract

Dattaram Fale and Nezlyn Cressida D’souza*

The devastating SARS-CoV-2 outbreak of 2020 has affected all functioning systems of the world, as well as highlighted the loopholes in existing systems. As with other services, the educational systems across the globe have been drastically affected. Being a country of people of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, India, a country with the world’s second-largest school system, has seen a disproportionate effect of the pandemic and the restrictions imposed on the teaching-learning systems of rural and urban environments. As the country suffered through multiple devastating waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, it imposed the longest-running closures of schools. Like other states of India, the education systems of Goa, a lush green state on the West coast of India, have also been affected by the pandemic and related modification of regulations. The rural schools of Goa have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic compared with schools in urban environments. This paper discusses the case of a government school in Sattari-North Goa, and enlightens the challenges faced and initiatives that were taken to tackle the situation.