COVID-19 has disrupted the way of life within the initial days of the outbreak. One of the key sectors that have taken a hard hit due to COVID is the education sector. Due to restrictions, schools were shut down, classes and exams were canceled, and the whole 2-3 months of education went for a toss. But the educational community was soon to recover from this hassle by adapting quickly to online learning. Many people, including parents and teachers, are upset about the distress that COVID has caused to the education sector, there are people who are happy about it because they see this as an opportunity to break down the earlier, outdated education framework. Post the world wars and the Spanish flu, the COVID outbreak is the first opportunity for authorities to re-think re-designing the entire education system in India. The COVID challenge in itself is an opportunity to analyze how the pandemic will impact the way schools will function in India and how we can take proactive measures to ensure things go smoothly.
Many would say that teachers and students were able to quickly grasp online learning, but if we take a closer look at the students from non-metro cities, then we can see that the major challenge was access to power and access to the internet. They could not access assignments and real-time online classes. The low-income private and government schools have gone to the extent of shutting down operations due to no access to online learning facilities. So, there is still a wide gap between the schools that have adapted to online learning and those that have not. Relatively, the number of schools still lacking in this aspect is greater. It seems to be difficult for schools to function now as they did in the pre-COVID times.
Academicians are of the opinion that learning can happen anywhere, but imparting education has to be systematic and relevant. Post-COVID, schools can operate in a 2-dimensional manner – core activities can happen in the same physical mode, and those components of school that do not require a physical presence can be taken online. There will be a shift in classroom learning, only in terms of using technology more, but not fully adopting online learning. Activities such as parent-teacher meetings and brief discussions can be shifted to the online mode, while classroom teaching post-COVID remains the same.
Another aspect to consider is examinations. Assignments and submissions can be done on the online platform, making it easier for teachers to analyze answer sheets and discussing them online with students and their performance with parents. Some students might be comfortable with a pen and paper test and some not. But the pandemic has shown us that exams can be conducted online with minimum plagiarism. Online examinations have gained traction and people see a lot of benefits in them. Although proctoring is required, with online exams, the design of questions changes, which encourages the students to expand their scope of learning. These new designs will include fewer memory-based questions and more logical thinking and problem-solving questions. This will help students build their problem-solving skills and reasoning ability.
COVID-19 has shown schools the necessity to incorporate technology in education and how it can break the barrier of distance. However, it is essential that schools do not get carried away with technology. Educational technology tools are enablers to education, and cannot be a replacement to the traditional school system. Moreover, parents and students feel that peer-to-peer learning and interaction are necessary rather than staring at computer screens throughout the day.
As there are two sides to a coin, the impact of COVID-19 is also two-fold. But if we look closely, the challenge of COVID-19 is an opportunity for the educational sector to take a step back and re-evaluate itself to bring about the much-needed changes in the system.
