(Source: Google)
The Covid-19 pandemic across the world has taken the lives of at least 1.2 million people with more than one thousand and twenty-eight of them from India. The rate of confirmed cases of infection is taking a new spike here, every day, with more than 8.64 million new cases reported as of 10th November 2020.
With the academic sessions and examinations already canceled by the respective State Governments, the educational institutions in India are looking forward to completing what is remaining of the previous session's curriculum, by conducting online classes via different websites like Google Meet, Google Classroom, Zoom Meeting, and Skype. The risk of community transmission and mass contamination had entailed the closure of schools, colleges, and universities since the end of March, this year, just before the occurrence of the severe outbreak. It would not be incorrect to say that this deadly virus has paved a path for the initiation of “formal e-learning” in India. Not only students pursuing higher education are benefiting from the introduction and execution of the online classes, but primary school students have also become regular attendants of this, which seemed like a myth just a year ago.
As on one side, this seems like a ladder for development, the reverse side has its own drawbacks. The ratio of student across the country, that can and cannot afford an internet connection at home make it an absurd idea to teach and conduct classes online. More than half of these students, especially those belonging to government-aided schools in rural areas, do not even own proper devices like computers or mobile phones to log in to the class. But, for the privileged section, it has become a very flashy matter. A conflict is evident between the two sections of the students- those with limited resources and those with plenty- whether these online classes are benefiting and worthwhile or not. Education has become a facility widely available to everyone sans the proletariat strata, contributing to the majority.
(Source- The New Leam)
The concerned authorities should definitely make arrangements for unprivileged students to continue their studies and be in touch with their teachers and peers through online classes amid lock-down as, e-learning, how much challenging it might seem, can be the beginning of a new chapter in the development of education in India. Without a proper framework, the i-card of Indian education "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan" (meaning, a campaign for education for all), the universalization of primary education, will seem like a hoax.
(Source: The Times of India)
Corporate companies and start-ups are also providing work from home for their employees, bringing about a change in the work culture. As many as 18 million business persons and entrepreneurs have lost employment in April 2020, according to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). In these cases, gaining exposure to online businesses or taking up entrepreneurship, creating a start-up company and such can come as a great help to these people. All these are leading to a future where work, business, education, and entertainment will be operated through the internet. The world will become completely digitized.
This initiative by our nation towards digitization of classrooms, therefore, is a small step nearing professionalism in education. With proper measures adopted by the government to keep education as a basic right, like uniformly arranging infrastructure nation-wide, the situation of the students with limited resources can also be improved while creating a better future for them, thus, proving E-learning in India an absolute breakthrough.
RIYA SENGUPTA
ReplyDeleteNicely written and you have covered all the points in the article