The COVID pandemic has shed light on numerous issues affecting access to education. Currently, the entire world is in lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the businesses have adapted the work from home policy. This pandemic has also impacted the education sector worldwide. More than 91% of the world’s students are out of school due to school closure. According to the statistics of March 12, more than 370 million children and youth are not attending school because of temporary school closures as mandated by the government.
The education sector faces unprecedented challenges; it needs to adapt and find solutions to keep children motivated and on their route to learning. The Government of India has also closed all educational institutions as a part of the nationwide lockdown. Learners ranging from school going children to postgraduate students face its consequences.
The Government of India had to find an immediate solution because the closure of schools and colleges caused far-reaching economic and societal consequences. Therefore, the government has come up with an e-learning programme. In this situation, many ed-tech firms have leveraged the problem by offering free online classes and attractive offers on e-learning modules. E-learning comes as an exciting and interactive alternative as compared to classroom teaching.
The Loss of Institutional Support
During this pandemic, almost all schools shifted to the online mode of education. Some schools even cancelled and postponed their final examinations, including entrance exams. After introducing online education, students are adapted to using gadgets and online learning tools. There was a time when phones were not allowed inside the school campus, but now the online classes are mostly dependent on mobile phones. It was challenging for students to operate websites and appear for examinations online. Now, students are used to screen-life, due to which they are suffering from various health issues like anxiety, stress and depression.
Due to online study, students are not exposed to a school-like environment and lack physical activity. School activities like PTM’s, and school functions are compensated by online webinars and video meetings, which decline students’ interests. However, exciting ways are being generated to maintain the importance of co-curricular activities and friendship. This is the time to regain the leaking hope in our students.
Even the assignments and homework are uploaded on the online platform supported by the school. Students can download the assignments from the websites, and once they solve them, they need to upload them. Students can also get online study materials such as music essays, sample papers, and syllabuses from their official website.
Impact on the Indian Education System
- The exam cycle has got disturbed due to this lockdown. Some universities might have faced a slowdown in terms of students’ internships and placements.
- Due to closure, teaching, assessment methodologies of schooling, and learning will be affected. Counselling of students’ operations is affected. Hiring plans for several institutions are paused, which will affect quality and excellence.
- Technology has played an essential role in this lockdown period, like studying from home and working from home. Many private schools in India have adopted online teaching methods. But, for some private schools and government schools, online teaching methods may not be possible. As a result, students will miss learning opportunities.
- Employment is another primary concern in this lockdown scenario. Students who have completed their graduation fear the withdrawal of job offers from the corporate sector due to the pandemic situation.
- As we know, most of the entrance examinations are postponed, including engineering, medical, law, etc. As a result, faculties and employees may face salary cuts and bonuses, and increments will be delayed.
Students are dependent on online resources while preparing for their exams. Some resources available on the internet are essay topics such as essays on peacock, previous years’ question papers, notes, etc.
