Preserving Equality in Online Education

The silver bullet of technology has not only managed to pierce sectors like finance, law, healthcare, etc. but also the predominantly conservative sector of education. Pandemic was the catalyst for steering a range of investments and innovation in the online learning space. Not surprisingly, the industry is set to grow by $2.28 billion during 2022-2026, progressing at a CAGR of 19.50% during the forecast period.[1]

The rapid adoption and need of online education platforms have inspired pedagogical approaches to make tech-based education more engaging and interactive. It is anticipated that integration of blockchain, gamification, artificial intelligence, immersive technologies, learning analytics, etc. will make the online learning experience more adaptative and personalised to the needs of each individual student.

While the world of virtual education may have opened lucrative avenues, its impact dwells differently on students, teachers, schools, parents, and the industry as a whole. 

 

Supreme Court’s View on Online Education

During the pandemic, schools switched to the digital medium, and as such, the right to education was virtually denied to children belonging to the disadvantaged group (DG) or economically weaker section (EWS). The Supreme Court, headed by a three-judge bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, Vikram Nath and B.V. Nagarathna in October 2021, stated that the digital divide, against the backdrop of the COVID pandemic, has produced “stark consequences.”

The top court was hearing a plea by the Action Committee on Unaided Recognised Private Schools in connection with the access to technology by children who are attending online classes and the funding needed for the same. It was a petition filed by the private school managements challenging the Delhi High Court order of September 2020 directing them to provide their 25% quota of EWS/DG students online facilities free of charge. The High Court had said that the schools could get themselves reimbursed from the government.

The Delhi government appealed to the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order, saying it had no resources to reimburse the school for the online gadgets. Though the Supreme Court had stayed the High Court order in February 2021, the bench led by Justice Chandrachud said both the Centre and states like Delhi could not bow out of their responsibilities towards young children.

The court observed that the disparity exposed by online classes had been heart-rending. The technology gap caused by online classes defeated the fundamental right of every poor child to study in mainstream schools. The court also ruled that the right to education for little children hinged on who could afford gadgets for online classes and who could not. Many students had to take temporary breaks, and in the worst case, drop out, due to a lack of resources to access the internet, for online education as their families could not afford them. Moreover, the risk of the children, who dropped out of school, being drawn into child labour or child trafficking was high. The needs of young children, who are the future of the country, cannot be ignored, it said. Though schools were gradually opening due to the receding curve of the pandemic, the need to provide adequate computer-based equipment and access to online facilities for children is of utmost importance.

The needs of young children who represent the future of the nation cannot simply be ignored. A solution must be devised at all levels of Government – State and Centre to ensure that adequate facilities are made available to children across social strata so that access to education is not denied to those who lack resources. Otherwise, the entire purpose of the Right to Education Act, allowing EWS students to learn alongside mainstream students even in unaided schools, will be defeated.

The court further held that Article 21A (the right to free and compulsory education for children aged between 6 and 14) must be a reality. It directed the Delhi government to develop a plan to help children in the EWS category and added that the Centre and State governments should jointly work to develop a realistic and lasting solution to ensure children are not denied education due to lack of resources. The said bench further said: “It is necessary for the Delhi government to come with a plan to uphold the salutary objective of the RTE Act. Centre to also coordinate with state governments and share concurrent responsibilities for the purposes of funding.”

It also appreciated the Delhi High Court’s order directing the Delhi government to provide computer-based equipment and an internet package free of cost to EWS children in private and government schools. The Bench asked the Delhi Government to come out with a plan to effectuate the ‘salutary object’ upheld in the High Court’s decision. The court said the Centre should join in the consultations. The issues raised in the present proceedings will not only cover unaided schools but also government and aided schools. The Bench issued notice in the private school’s management petition and ordered it to be tagged with the pending Delhi Government petition.

 

Guidelines for Digital Education

COVID 19 accelerated the adoption of technology and brought about a dynamic shift in the sector. However, it was also realised that technology may improve the quality of dissemination of education; but it can never replace the classroom teaching and learning experience. While adopting the blended and hybrid model of education, a balance needs to be struck in learning and taking advantage of technology, and helping children become socially and emotionally healthy individuals and responsible citizens.

Bearing that in mind, Pragyata Guidelines for Digital Education were released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s Department of School Education and Literacy. At the beginning of the academic year 2021-22, the school education department informed all the schools to follow these guidelines while conducting online classes. According to the guidelines, the maximum screen time per day for kindergarten/preschool students has been limited to 45 minutes. However, for classes 1 to 5, schools can conduct two sessions of 1.5 hours per day for not more than 5 days in a week. For classes 6 to 8, screen time has been limited to 2 hours and for classes 9 to 12, limited to a maximum of 3 hours per day.

 

The Two Sides of Online Learning

Online classes offer a comfortable learning environment for students and offer tremendous growth opportunities, but it does instil a sense of isolation. Students, especially those belonging to younger age groups, thrive in a socially simulated environment. However, given the set-up of online classes, children fail to develop the ability to identify social norms and etiquettes. Further, online classes also limit the time and attention teachers can extend to their students. As a consequence, students that require extra attention and guidance fail to perform well. Also, online education may be accessible, but it is not affordable. Virtual learning requires expensive gadgets like computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones. Hence, students in the economically weaker sections are left behind.

On the plus side, exhaustion and added costs of commuting are avoided in online education. In addition, online learning platforms offers a variety of courses and programmes that empower students to explore opportunities outside the realm of their curriculum. Moreover, since it is not possible for teachers to constantly monitor the activities of all students, online classes instil a sense of responsibility and self-discipline in them as they are made to realise that their actions and negligence will have a long-term impact on their future.

Mapping and understanding the positives and negatives of online education will enable educational institutes and the ed-tech industry to pioneer strategies for more efficient delivery of education. At the same time, the legislature must take a pro-active stance in ensuring that the fundamental right to education is protected in all manner and forms without any compromise on the well-being of learners.

References:

[1] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220429005261/en/2.28-Bn-Online-Education-Market-in-India-2022-2026-Popularity-of-Big-Data-and-Learning-Analytics-and-the-Inclusion-of-Gamification-to-Lead-to-Demand—ResearchAndMarkets.com

During the pandemic, schools switched to the digital medium, and as such, the right to education was virtually denied to children belonging to the disadvantaged group (DG) or economically weaker section (EWS). The Supreme Court, headed by a three-judge bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, Vikram Nath and B.V. Nagarathna in October 2021, stated that the digital divide, against the backdrop of the COVID pandemic, has produced “stark consequences.”

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Bulk Data Sharing & Procedure Notification - A Data Breach?

  • 31 July, 2019
  • Indran M.B

In this digital era, data has become one of the most valuable assets to own. Elections have been won and international alliances have toppled because of support that could be garnered by utilizing data analytics. While heated debate surrounding data breaches by private entities baffles the world, at home, it is accused that the Indian Government has monetized from sale of personal data of Individuals, in the pretext of “public purposes” under a notification released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in March 2019 titled “Bulk Data Sharing & Procedure”.

In July 2019, a parliamentary debate pertaining to “sale of data” by the State was raised because the Government had provided access to databases containing driving license and vehicle registration details to private companies and Government entities and generated revenue out of them.  The two databases of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways named Vahan and Sarathi were under discussion.  These databases contained details such as vehicle owner’s names, registration details, chasis number, engine number, and driving license related particulars of individuals.  These details amount to personal information by which an individual could be identified (“Personal Data”).  

The sale of data was pursuant to a notification released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in March 2019 titled Bulk Data Sharing & Procedure wherein a policy framework on sale of bulk data relating to driving license and vehicle registration was introduced.  Among other things, this writeup discusses whether such sale of Personal Data for revenue generation is acceptable in light of privacy as a fundamental right and the Data Protection Bill 2018? and whether such access constitutes data breach? 

 

Bulk Data Sharing & Procedure Notification 

The “Bulk Data Sharing & Procedure” notification by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways states the purpose for which bulk data access would be  provided: 

“it is recognized that sharing this data for other purposes, in a controlled manner, can support the transport and automobile industry.  The sharing of data will also help in service improvements and wider benefits to citizens & Government. In addition, it will also benefit the country’s economy”.  

As per the notification, only such entities that qualify the eligibility criteria would be provided access to bulk data.  The eligibility criteria are that an entity should be registered in India with at least 50% Indian ownership, such bulk data should be processed/stored in Servers/Data Centers in India, and the entity should have obtained security pre-audit report from CERT-In empanelled auditor.  The bulk data access would be provided for a price.  

Commercial organizations could have such data for an amount of INR 3 crores and educational institutions could have them for 5 lakhs.  As per the notification, the bulk data will be provided in encrypted form with restricted access.  Such entities would be restricted from any activity that would identify individuals using such data sets.  The entities would be required to follow certain protocols for data loss prevention, access controls, audit logs, security and vulnerability.  Violation of these protocols is punishable under the Information Technology Act, 2000. 

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has in accordance with this policy framework provided database access to 87 private companies and 32 government entities for a price of 65 crores resulting in Personal Data of all individuals being accessible to them.  The Data Principal (the individual whose information is in the database) has no knowledge or control over any use or misuse of his/her information.   

In any data protection framework worldwide, the Data Principal’s consent should be sought stating the purpose for which data ought to be used.  It is only pursuant to Data Principal’s consent that any information can be processed.  On the contrary, providing access to Personal Data to third party private companies without any consent of the Data Principal will keep them out of effective control.  This is against the basic principles of data protection. 

 

Proposed Legislation for Data Protection 

India is on the verge of a new Data Protection Act as the bill is being placed in the Parliament.  The Data Protection Bill, 2018 contains certain provisions to address the above-mentioned issues.  Section 5 of the Data Protection Bill states when personal data can be processed.  Personal Data shall be allowed only for such purposes that are  clear, specific, and lawful.  Section 5 is extracted below: 

  1. Purpose limitation— (1) Personal data shall be processed only for purposes that are clear, specific and lawful. (2) Personal data shall be processed only for purposes specified or for any other incidental purpose that the data principal would reasonably expect the personal data to be used for, having regard to the specified purposes, and the context and circumstances in which the personal data was collected.

Moreover, the relevant enactment regulating driving license and vehicle registration i.e. Motor Vehicle Act does not explicitly permit the State to sell or provide third parties access to Personal Data for generation of revenue.  Therefore, there is no clear, specific, or lawful indication of such access in the enactment.  The question arises whether access to bulk Personal Data can be interpreted as an “incidental purpose” that “data principal would reasonably expect”.  The data principal has provided this information only for the purpose of grant of motor vehicle license and vehicle registration.  The Data Principal ought not have expected his/her data to be sold by the Government. 

Section 13 of the Data Protection Bill is also of relevance here because it authorizes the State to process Personal Data for provision of services, benefit or issuance of certification, licenses or permits.  Section 13 is extracted below: 

Section 13 – Processing of personal data for functions of the State. — Personal data may be processed if such processing is necessary for excise of the functions of the State authorised by law for: (a) the provision of any service or benefit to the data principal from the State. (b) the issuance of any certification, license, or permit for any action or activity of the data principal of the State. 

 

By this section, the State is authorized to use Personal Data for grant of license or permits or to provide any benefit or service.  However, whether the State is authorized to give access to Personal Data to third party private companies is unclear. 

Section 17 of the Data Protection Bill tries to shed some light on this anomaly.  The section states that Personal Data may be processed for “reasonable purposes” after considering if there is any public interest involved in processing the same.  What constitutes reasonable purpose is yet to be specified by the Data Protection Authority to be constituted.  Section 17 is extracted hereunder: 

  1. Processing of data for reasonable purposes. — 

(1) In addition to the grounds for processing contained in section12 to section 16, personal data may be processed if such processing is necessary for such reasonable purposes as may be specified after taking into consideration— 

(a) the interest of the data fiduciary in processing for that purpose; 

(b) whether the data fiduciary can reasonably be expected to obtain the consent of the data principal; 

(c) any public interest in processing for that purpose; 

(d) the effect of the processing activity on the rights of the data principal; and 

(e) the reasonable expectations of the data principal having regard to the context of the processing. 

(2) For the purpose of sub-section (1), the Authority may specify reasonable purposes related to the following activities, including— 

(a) prevention and detection of any unlawful activity including fraud; 

(b) whistle blowing; 

(c) mergers and acquisitions; 

(d) network and information security; 

(e) credit scoring; 

(f) recovery of debt; 

(g) processing of publicly available personal data; 

(3) Where the Authority specifies a reasonable purpose under sub-section (1), it shall: (a) lay down such safeguards as may be appropriate to ensure the protection of the rights of data principals; and (b) determine where the provision of notice under section 8 would not apply having regard to whether such provision would substantially prejudice the relevant reasonable purpose. 

 

Section 17, therefore, clarifies that when there is any public interest involved, the State may provide access to publicly available personal data to third parties.  This read with Section 13 indicates that State is not required to get the consent of Data Principal in order to provide services and benefits.   

 

Whether the State has provided access to personal data for public interest or to provide services and benefits? 

The Bulk Data Processing & Procedure notification states that the purpose of providing access of bulk Personal Data is to “support the transport and automobile industry” & “help in service improvements and wider benefits to citizens & Government”.  Supporting the transport and automobile industry and improving services may qualify as public interest, whereas, mere revenue generation will not.  However, there is no clarification from the Government as to how these private companies to whom database access is being provided assist in public interest.  Further, whether all driving license and registration details related data can be classified as publicly available information is again contentious and questionable as the information provided therein is intended to be provided only to license holders & vehicle owners and is partially masked. 

In the event if this Personal Data is not construed as public data or these public companies have been given access to personal data in the absence of any public interest, it would result  in personal data breach by the Government Departments where the head of Department will be held liable as per section 96 of the Data Protection Bill. 

It is quite preposterous to note that on the one hand Data Protection Bill is being tabled in parliament and on the other, the Government is selling Personal Data of the general public for economic gains.  Whether it results in the exploitation of personal and private data on the pretext of public interest without an individual’s consent needs to be ascertained. 

Image Credits:

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

 

It is quite preposterous to note that on the one hand Data Protection Bill is being tabled in parliament and on the other, the Government is selling Personal Data of the general public for economic gains.

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