Today’s students are considered tomorrow’s leaders. They grow up to become fluent in whatever field they choose, but the training starts from the primary education itself. Education is considered the most prominent factor in a child’s development. That education could be achieved from anything- from the school, the family, the society, or through one’s personal observations. But the higher motive is to provide proper education to today’s growing youngsters so that they may prove to be efficient demography for the nation tomorrow.

The coronavirus pandemic has uprooted the basic system of schooling that was being followed for centuries. Earlier the students used to receive education in Gurukuls, Madrasas, etc., and later in schools. A proper primary to the secondary system of education was deployed. But the pandemic situation brought this very system to a standstill. Nobody was allowed to move out of their homes, strict lockdowns were initiated; as per the rules of the government. Hence, the setback resulted in the shutting down of schools. 

Putting a pause to studies was not correct, that’s why the new concept of online or virtual classrooms was devised across the world. In its definition, an online classroom is “education that uses one or more technologies to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students”. 

As per the government guidelines, it is not possible to go back to the situation of normal schools any sooner. So, the researchers advised that online schooling is the only way forward. 

Online teaching:

• In the data and reports that were presented by the schools, online teaching can be expensive to lead. The schools had to devise their own means of technology access, like getting mass registration to online meeting platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet. This cost them a huge fortune. In some areas, the subsidy was supported by the government but mostly, it was not. 

• The teachers and professors across various institutes in India are not very tech-savvy. They are used to the conventional methods of teaching with board and pen. But this sudden change in the mode of teaching affected them a lot. There are still some individuals who are trying to adjust and adapt to this technology. Sometimes they face trouble registering themselves, while other times they unintentionally misuse the camera feature while teaching. The most shameful thing is, students, make fun of their teachers for such faults.

• Meanwhile teachers who couldn’t get used to this technology got laid-off by their institutes. That’s where major unemployment splurged in.

• The teachers experienced the major problem of discipline among the students. They made fun of their teachers as well as passed negative comments on other students by keeping their identity anonymous.

• But on the bright side, people experienced that teaching online in virtual classrooms is less consuming and more cost-effective. The online meeting platforms could be installed anywhere on laptops, desktops, or mobile phones.

• The time was flexible as well as the burden of assessment became easy.

• However, teachers were loaded with a lot of work. They had to create that environment of learning and then, prepare detailed notes. Not only this, they had to prepare for presenting themselves in front of the students.

Online learning:

• Observing the side of students, the exams were canceled and the marking system was altered from time to time. Earlier it was based on the assignments and online assessment marks of the students. But later it changed to the system of including previous year’s marks in the present year. This got really hard for the students to adapt to the rapid changes.

• A lot of meritorious students got into the mob mentality. Due to the generalized marking structure, they did not get deserving marks. All were weighed on the same scale.

• There was a major problem with discipline among students. Many of them turned more notorious due to newfound freedom. Since there wasn’t any fear of getting scolded, they mocked their fellow students, their teachers, or even their parents. Social media has been full of such videos which got viral. Either they anonymously harassed their teachers on camera or unintentionally created chaos.

• The health of a lot of students deteriorated due to excessive screen time. Many became prey to depression, suicides, poor mental health, physical diseases, unfit body, etc.

• Due to attending a lot of classes online, they got used to the comfort of the online world at a very young age which is not healthy. This resulted in a lot of cybercrimes involving teenagers.

• Young kids from the age of 5-10 were also forced to sit through the lectures and complete their assignments on time. This created a negative impact on them too.

• The credibility of studies and teaching got deteriorated as no one kept an eye on the assignments of the students. Rarely anyone submitted original assignments to their teachers.

• There were a lot of students who didn’t have technical resources for online classes because it was not feasible for them. Their studies suffered until someone fortunate enough decided to help them.

• The regular online classes led to parents handing devices to their kids at a very young age, which is a proven mistake. But the parents had no other option. They couldn’t even monitor their kids the whole time because of privacy issues. This resulted in a lot of turbulence among the parents and students, also causing domestic violence and disobedience.

• This system reduced the direct environment of the classroom where the students interacted with their teachers and other students, leading to emotional failure.

So, what lies ahead?

 This pandemic isn’t going to end any soon because of the regularly mutating viruses. Thus, government-issued guidelines of keeping the schools closed for longer now. This is believed to be the longest shutdown of economic activities in the nation ever.

But the question is, who will take guarantee of the credibility of such an education system. Recently the results of High School and Intermediate were seen floating on the internet, where everyone passed with flying colors. As stated above, every individual student was weighed on the same scale, because there is currently no method of coping with this crisis.

The future lies dark and unpredictable ahead. Should we ask the government that is it about generating revenue that the country’s future is put through a dark kaleidoscope?

Or is this the only option left?

• If yes, then what does the central government plan about the future of such pass-outs?

• Unemployment rate is rising high and if such quality of education enters the R&D market then how will they handle the work?

• How will it replace the current talent at other job areas when it enters into diverse fields?

• Where would the quality of our education system land with this ‘lightweight’ teaching?

• Would teachers be able to adapt to this system entirely?

To answer these questions from my point of view, I’ve jotted down some suggestions below. Kindly scroll down to have a look.