Impact of Covid-19 on Education Sector

INTRODUCTION

Covid-19 pandemic is the first and the foremost a health crisis. The World-Wide lockdowns because of the global pandemic have affected many important sectors adversely, one of them being the EDUCATION SECTOR. The pandemic forced many schools, colleges and universities to keep it closed abruptly.

In a short span of time, the students were exposed to online learning. The sudden change of classroom learning to digital learning impacted the learning of the children belonging to low-income families. As they were not able to afford smart phones, computers or laptops, wi-fi etc. came to become their immediate disadvantage.

All the schools and universities have created online curriculum structure for day-to-day teaching and learning and also shifted, postponed or cancelled many regular and competitive examination. It has also increased the students need to adept at using gadgets and online platforms overnight. Online schooling has created a digital spilt among the rich and the poor students.

Majority of the students from the rural areas were unable to explore the online learning as they were having limited or no internet access. This sudden transition led to variety of mental health concerns among the students like- depression, anxiety and stress. There were students who were going to school so as they can get food (through the Mid-Day Meal Scheme) now came to standstill because of the closure.

The educated parents were able to support their children throughout the pandemic in their learning but they were parents who are illiterate and also their helplessness to help their children in learning.

The education has affected many but because of this pandemic most of the female children were dropped out from it stating the reason of financial and opportunity costs of doing so.

The pandemic has not only affected the students but also the low budget schools and institutions resulting in close down of the same.

Technology has opened many new ways for imparting education and also connecting the teacher students virtually through online classrooms, webinars, digital exams etc. but the sad truth is that it is not available to everyone.

It was all done considering the well being of the students so that they can stay ay home without getting affected by this life-threatening virus.

Well, we were not prepared for this but it came so we have to go through this together and should think and undertake some ways of providing education to every child amid the pandemic if we face something like this in the future to aid the forthcoming generation.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES-

In India, various initiatives were taken up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) for the secondary and higher education which gave a ray of light and hope to many during this difficult time. Some of them are listed below-

• e-Pathshala- an e-learning app created by NCERT for classes 1-12 in multiple languages which contains study materials like videos, audios, books, worksheets etc. Multilingual not only helped the students and educators but also to the parents of the students to understand how the platform works.

• Diksha- an e-learning app where the content is based on the curriculum for the students and educators which includes videos, textbooks, worksheets and assessments as well. Around 8000 e-books are available under the Diksha portal.

• Swayam- it is a national online education platform which has around 1900 different courses which not only covers the school curriculum but also for the higher education like under-graduates, post-graduates and diploma programs.

• e-PG Pathshala- the name itself suggests that the platform is dedicated to the post graduate students. It includes e-books, online courses and study materials. The students can access these materials even if they lose their internet connectivity.

SOME OF THE POSITIVE KEY IMPACTS OF THE COVID-19 ON EDUCATION-

1. Blended mode of learning has been adopted by all the educational institutions.

2.  Students were able to manage their time more efficiently in online education.

3. No concept of back benches in online classes.

4. Students were able to learn new computer skills as lot of assignments and presentation were asked to make as part of their assessment.

5. No limitation of strength of students learning at a time.

6. Provided a great opportunity for self-study and also helped the students to analyze more effectively on what is been taught.

7. Students who were weak in any subject were able to watch related videos of the same on YouTube and other online platforms.

SOME OF THE NEGATIVVE KEY IMPACTS OF THE COVID-19 ON EDUCATION-

1. In many rural areas, students had limited or no internet access.

2. Online teaching learning method created a big divide between rich v/s poor and urban v/s rural.

3. Teachers and students were unprepared for this sudden and new transition.

4. Many schools and universities were closed and suspended.

5. Different boards postponed or changed the pattern of annual examination and entrance test creating confusion among the students.

WORK EXPERIENCE-

I happened to work as a volunteer with an NGO named as- ‘YEF’ (YOUTH EMPOWERMENT FOUNDATION) located in Delhi.
As part of that internship, I learned and interacted with many young minds who had different approaches for the children who were barred from getting the knowledge due to many circumstances.
The NGO had taken up many such projects for the same and I along with my other co-volunteers worked for the same.

Some of them are mentioned here below-

• PROJECT MILAAP: In this it basically provides financial aids to all the daily wage laborer’s and also the people who are in need.

• LOVE IN A BACPACK: The motive of this project is to help the children of the deprived communities in their growth and development by providing them a stable economic future.

• HUMARI PATHSHALA: This is a special program which is initiated by the NGO that focuses on educating the children belonging to the slums and it makes sure no one is left out and each and everyone is given equal opportunity in the field of education.

CONCLUSION

Covid-19 has impacted immensely the education section sector of India. Though it has created many challenges, various opportunities are also evolved. The Indian Govt. and different stakeholders of education have explored the possibility of Open and Distance learning by adopting different digital technologies to cope up with the present crisis of COVID-19. India is not fully equipped to make education reach all corners of the nation via digital platforms.

The students who aren’t privileged like the others will suffer due to the present choice of digital platforms. The priority should be to utilize digital technology to create an advantageous position for millions of young students in India.

It is need of the hour for the educational institutions to strengthen their knowledge and information technology infrastructure to be ready for facing COVID-19 like situations.

Even if the COVID-19 crisis stretches longer, there is an urgent need to take efforts on maximum utilization of online platforms. India should develop creative strategies to ensure that all children must have sustainable access to learning during pandemic COVID-19.

(This research paper has been submitted by Jerin George Jose and Dr Sanjana Sharma Marwaha)