Coronavirus, this word has been a matter of concern throughout the world for the past 5 or 6 months. The first corona case is known to be found in a Chinese city named Wuhan. Initially, the world health organization stated that the virus does not affect humans but we all know what happened after that. The entire world has been affected by the virus and it has claimed more than 4 Lakh lives around the world. Also, more than 20 lakh people have tested positive for the COVID-19.
Economical Crisis
The virus is not only taking lives and making people sick but it has affected the economy of the entire world. There is not a single country that has remained unaffected or an economy that has not suffered from the crisis. In order to prevent the infection among masses, several countries had imposed a nationwide lockdown for up to months. Just to slow down the infection rate and prevent people in coming contact with each other. However, in some countries, the lockdown actually gave favourable outcomes but in India, it did not bear any fruit.
The idea of imposing a nationwide lockdown may have varied results with respect to prevention of the infection, but one outcome is consistent in all the countries i.e adverse effect on the economy, bringing a financial crisis, heavy loss of employment and loss of education.
coronavirus impact on education
Apart from the economical crisis that coronavirus has bought to the world, the loss of education for school going kids as well as for the students of higher studies is also not small.
In the wake of the imposition of lockdown, all the universities, schools and institutions have been shut for months and still has not opened. All kinds of examinations are either cancelled or they have been postponed till further notice.
Students from class 1 to 10th (excluding board exams) and 11th have been promoted to the next class without conducting the exams. In addition to that, the board exams for class 10 & 12 have been postponed till July 2020. Also, universities are also planning to cancel their 1st & 2nd year exams and promoting the students to next semester.
Taking an initiative, the Government of Maharashtra has decided to cancel the exams of all the students of Mumbai universities. However, some universities including Delhi University, Aligarh Muslim University and IIT-Delhi etc. are still hopeful to conduct the exams and exploring an online way.
Since the coronavirus has managed to affect the entire education system. It is also true that schools and colleges have found an online way to conduct classes.
The education sector along with other sectors is rapidly adapting online learning and developing their resources for the same. Teachers and students are creating a virtual classroom through several video calling applications like Zoom, google meet and skype etc.
The process of e-learning has been there but in the pre-pandemic era, it was growing at a slower rate than the post-pandemic era. The compulsion to practice physical distancing has forced the people to adopt the online means for their interactions.
To conclude, although the education sector is relying on online teaching and it is compensating the loss of education up to an extent. It is also true that virtual learning may not be as effective as learning in a physical classroom. But the situation is getting worse day by day showing no sense of relief.
In a recent update released by the Government of India’s Human Resource Development Ministry, the reopening of schools and colleges would take place in a phased manner from August 15, 2020. It is also clarified that the reopening process will only be conducted in areas that have been declared risk free.