If the future is starved.

 "The digital pivot in India's schooling system risks pushing it into deeper inequality, seven months after schools shut down across the country to tackle the pandemic. A majority of children without access to internet has been thrown into distress -- a handful to the point of self-harm, as several reports in this newspaper attest -- by an exclusionary method of learning," wrote an editorial in The Indian Express. A telephone survey of over 60,000 children in rural India by the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) found that, "Only about one-third of the surveyed children had access to online learning; only about 11 percent had access to live online classes." "The coronavirus pandemic is forcing India's children out of school and into farms and factories to work, worsening a child labor problem that was already one of the most dire in the world," wrote Shwetha Sunil. "A 2018 study by DHL International GmBH estimated that more than 56 million children were out of school in India -- more than double the combined number across Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam." Profs Kingdon and Panagariya wrote that although "the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has outlined a new road map to overhaul India's education system", "The heart of the problem in school education, however, is the extremely poor delivery of outcomes by public school teachers." "Unsurprisingly, even parents with limited means are progressively moving their children out of public schools to low-fee budget private schools." To camouflage poor teaching Board exams have been made so easy that this year colleges in Delhi were demanding 100% marks in the chosen subject for admission. "While such political gimmickry may generate a feel-good factor and confer some short-term electoral advantage, it brazenly treats the school examination system as a political football," wrote Kingdon. All children need nutrition, healthcare, education, shelter and, above all, security to thrive.    When schools were shut down because of the lockdown in March, "Millions of children were deprived of the midday meal they used to receive at school and many people lost their jobs," wrote Jessie Yeung. Child traffickers took advantage. "Between April and September, 1,127 children suspected of being trafficked were rescued across India and 86 alleged traffickers were arrested, according Bachpan Bachao Andolan. The government is required by law to provide food at token prices to those Below Poverty Line, but, more than 100 million people are apparently being left out, according to Prof Jean Dreze. Healthcare is almost non-existent. "Afghanistan and India set aside the same share for health in their budgets, 4%, just above a quarter of the recommended spending and one-third of the second poorest country in the world, Burundi, did." Children are the future. Hungry children means a starving future.