A lot has changed in the education system in the past year. Due to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown There was a sudden shift to online education and learning . More emphasis was laid on the mental health of students everywhere. In India the New Education Policy with its new innovations announced a new era for education system with a lot of policy changes as opposed to the last education policy. However, amid all these additions and changes the focus remained same; quality education for all and to make both school and college education more flexible and multidisciplinary to help bring out the unique capabilities of each and every student.
Shifting to Online Education
The pandemic has put restrictions on the classroom-based teaching and learning. Schools, colleges and educational institutions have now moved to online learning. Along with students teachers have had to prepare for this transition. In the face of a global crisis such as Covid-19 teachers globally have come together to ensure that the process of teaching and learning does not stop.
Changes in Education System Around the World
The Finnish education system is considered to be one of the best in the world. The system directed schools to ensure and arrange education services in exceptional conditions. The Finnish National Agency for Education guided schools to plan and organize different kinds of flexible learning arrangements for the children. Children have been learning at home with access to all course material. Similar arrangements were made in the United States and the United Kingdom. In countries like Belgium, China and Japan educational programmes are being broadcasted on national television. This was done to emphasize the importance to continue home education. Schools were provided with teaching resources and teaching plans. Social media was used to announce how to access those resources.
New Education Policy 2020
The National Education Policy 2020 has been a blessing in disguise for the changes in the Indian educational sector. Both online education and NEP 2020 are the need of the hour. The action points in the policy promises to establish a curricular framework for the schools. The framework will focus on promoting creativity, critical thinking, and innovation. The policy includes more transformational features like focusing on vocational studies, developing high-quality study modules. It will also dedicate units for online and digital learning and provide textbooks to teachers as well as students. These materials will be useful for homeschooling with a lot of self-learning components.
Innovations in Mission Education centers
Educators from the Mission Education programme made sure that no child was left behind in their studies. Teachers ensured that parents were also sensitized about the importance of letting their child continue with their education. Regular visits to villages and parent-teacher meeting were conducted to encourage children and parents alike. To make it easier for the children many teachers prepared notes and delivered them to the students. Teachers ensured that children did not drop out due to lack of resources.
Teachers from Mission Education centers of Smile Foundation conducted sessions for parents to help their children in online learning. Thus, regular online classes were held for children and notes and lessons were shared through the medium. In places where children did not have access to online mediums teachers began to conduct cluster classes. The Mission Education Centers explored every possible method to stay in touch with students coming from poor communities. In order to carry forward with the approach of blended learning, teachers made sure that lessons, homework and assignments continued. Despite all odds and there was no hindrance in the education system.
Smile Foundation’s Mission Education programme ensures that no child is left behind in the journey of education. Through its relentless work on ground the programme has been able to benefit more than 232,000 underprivileged children so far.
To know more about Smile Foundation’s initiative, Shiksha Na Ruke visithttps://www.smilefoundationindia.org/me/
