Our education system has been thrown intodisarray by the coronavirus threat. Our place is a place where emergencies,lockdowns & blackouts are not unprecedented. More importantly, we havedeveloped an immunity to these trends & therefore, we are resilient enoughto bounce back with multiple solutions.
Here’s something to take your mind off theCovid19 pandemic which has engulfed the whole world. Let’s move to anotherworld, the world of education. It’s very difficult for us to speculate aboutthe post virus age. Let’s, however, utilize the opportunity provided by thelockdown to think about the issues concerning education as they have never beengiven a serious thought.
Education has been badly disrupted by thisCovid19 pandemic. All the academic institutions- the schools, the colleges, theuniversities, all are shut. Exams are postponed and all the education relatedactivities have been suspended. There have been no workshops, no conferencesand no seminars. Everything is at standstill.
Some positive initiatives have, however,come to fore. We have learnt about many innovative indoor methods andactivities and these obviously sound like good propositions. But theirimplementation & effectiveness is still facing some impediments and theirsuccess seems to be in limbo.
-The JK department of education recentlyannounced that Doordarshan (DDK) would telecast lessons for children. It’sundoubtedly a positive experience if the Television is used as an agent totransmit knowledge and information in this part of the world.
-Some dedicated teachers are using YouTubeto deliver lessons online. This will be an ever benefiting exercise if highspeed 4G internet access is made available to the inhabitants of the territory.Nevertheless, with 2G internet, this initiative has little efficacy.
-Institutions/Academies are using socialmedia platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram to offer e-learning crash coursesfree of charge to students. These include pre recorded lectures and studymaterial prepared by different scholars/tutors. Those exercising this trendneed to carry forward their good work and those unfamiliar with this shouldstart this trend.
The above mentioned facilities areconsidered as the best interim measures that can complement, to a good extent,the full time schooling.
Now let’s speak about the areas of concern.There are two serious areas of concern which need a considerable focus on partof the authorities. The first and theforemost area of concern is the lack of high speed internet access. With slowspeed 2G internet access, tutors are unable to upload the lectures and studentsare unable to watch them. Institutions/Academies are unable to upload the studymaterial and students are unable to download it. Therefore, it’s the soleresponsibility of the concerned authorities to think about it and provide thestudents with the best possible facilities including the high speed internet.Falling which, we may have to face another epidemic, the epidemic ofilliteracy.
What else should be of concern, though itis not most surprising, is that most of the children are enjoying theirunexpected break. The lack of interest in studies, especially by those who areenrolled in Govt Schools, is very striking. For them, virus has brought awelcome escape from the dullness and monotony of school and exams. This is agrave issue. This should be a moment for the bureaucracy concerned witheducation to ponder. Meanwhile, this should also be an area of concern for theparents. Together only can this concern be overcome.
It’s high time for us to repent for ourpast sins and look for the loopholes to correct them before it’s too late. Maythe better sense prevail.
Stay inside, stay safe. Break the chain.
Ishfaq Pirzada is a teacher at BHS Dardsun Kupwara