The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented crisis in all areas. Education during the pandemic has also been severely affected. The emergency has led to the massive closure of face-to-face activities in educational institutions around the world. This has created a lot of challenges in the Indian education system. Understanding these challenges is the key to manage the crisis.
Reopening of schools
Let’s start with a fact. The plan to return students to physical classes has faced a major setback in the past few weeks, with the country still witnessing a significant number of daily COVID-19 cases.
That said, there is a silver lining to this cloud. Eventually, the government and educational institutions want to facilitate a return to offline pedagogy. The present delay gives them more time to prepare a better roadmap to ensure a safe transition to school-based education.
Can e-learning be the answer?
Some may question whether a return is necessary. After all, e-learning is on the rise during the pandemic and is being heralded as the future of education.
However, while online pedagogy does a great job of complementing offline education, it hardly serves as a replacement for the latter. This is especially true in a developing economy like India for several reasons.
The pandemic has exposed the deep digital divide among classes. This shows how important it is to develop digital infrastructure. The pandemic has brought about challenges as well as opportunities to learn and adopt new things in education. Teachers who were distant from technology are now taking classes on various digital platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, etc.. Students are getting worksheets and educational videos through WhatsApp.
How can students cope with education during the pandemic?
Almost an entire unproductive year has gone by for several students. Only those who had continuous access to the Internet have been able to continue studying from home. Can students take one more year of this? No. This time we need to be more organized and fully prepared about how we can help students be productive and use this opportunity to develop useful habits and learn new skills.
Here are some tips that can help students be productive during the pandemic holidays.
Change your habits
The pandemic can be considered an opportunity to pick up new habits and get rid of old ones. It is a scientifically proven fact that it takes 21 days to change and develop a habit. Develop an effective habit during this time spent at home. Invest your time and energy to become more productive. Be aware of how you are investing your time and energy during this period.
Polish your creativity
Polish your creative skills like writing, painting, crafts, etc. while schools remain closed. Earlier, you may have felt bored with the predictable monotonous routine of school tasks that stifle your creativity. Perhaps you did not have enough time to engage yourself in the art of your choice. Now, you have enough time to sit back and indulge in your creative brilliance.
Enhance your communication skills
You can work on your communication skills by improving your English grammar and speaking. Any material that you want to know or learn is available on the Internet these days. You can take advantage of the opportunity yourself. You can also learn a foreign language.
Learn new skills
Are vocational course compulsory in your school? Maybe not. Why not invest in learning new skills? You can learn knitting, sewing, jewellery making, gardening, and a host of other things while at home. These skills might also help you later.
Join an online course
If you feel bored and stuck at your home in your daily routine and want some quality time to exchange knowledge with people, you can join an online course that interest you. You can join courses to prepare for competitive exams, to learn a language, or even for physical fitness.
Read more, expand your knowledge
We usually do not have time to read books which are outside our school syllabus because we are busy with school assignments. This pandemic has given us a chance to know the world through reading. Reading can be one of the best habits you can develop during this pandemic.
Use the Internet wisely
Playing video games and scrolling down social media feed are the most common pasttimes during the pandemic. Regulate this by setting a limit. Filter the content you see on social media and instead spend more time on productive things.
