Aditya Narayan Rai

Aditya Narayan Rai was a Research Fellow with the Education team at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. He completed his post-graduate degree in Public Policy and Governance from Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. Before joining Vidhi, he was working with the Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement (GRAAM) for over a year and was the Research Associate and Project Holder for two academic research studies – ‘Impact Evaluation of PMKVY and CMKKY in selected districts of Karnataka’ and ‘Skill Gap Study in selected districts of Karnataka’. He has also worked with the Jharkhand State Livelihoods Promotion Society as a Young Professional, where he was primarily responsible for the implementation of Mahila Kisan Shashaktikaran Pariyojana in the Khunti district of the state.

Low-tech and teacher support interventions during school closures
School closures during Covid-19 significantly impacted early childhood education, especially in households without sufficient parental engagement. Using data from households affiliated with Balwadis and preschools in Mumbai and Pune, Vernekar et al. find that those with access to a structured educational technology programme reported higher engagement levels. This effect was even greater for households that also received teacher support. They make a case for using such ed-tech programmes for blended schooling to minimise learning inequalities in case of future shocks.
