Education in Covid-19 scenario: Challenges of Online Education in India

Team Udayavani, Jul 31, 2020, 3:02 PM IST

Amid pandemic, schools, college, and university education are being adversely affected. It has posed many unexpected challenges for teachers, parents, and students

Considering the present situation it is difficult to predict when schools, colleges and universities will reopen

Teachers and school administrators have been advised to continue communication with students through virtual lectures or portals like Massive Open Online Courses.

The major challenge of remote learning is disparity in access. Although Government of India is taking initiative to develop digital infrastructure, a lot needs to be done in this direction. High speed internet and stable power supply are the biggest problem.

Sharvi, a high school student, said, “ I live in a remote area where there is no proper network. Although my school has not begun online classes yet. We receive homework and other study material through whatsapp and they are also planning to begin online classes soon”

When asked how is she planning to overcome the problem, Sharvi said, “ I will talk to my teachers and request them to provide me with proper study materials as I may not be able to attend online classes”

But, in this scenario, schools will not be able to provide an alternate solution for students who live in remote or rural areas.

Also, The dropout rate in online education is very high. Self motivation and discipline is required to complete the assignments and upload them timely. If you have difficulty working independently, staying organized and meeting deadlines, you might struggle in an online program

On the other hand, Parents claim that the online tasks and projects being assigned by schools have put parents in a dilemma because they suddenly need to connect their children through internet with their schools and often they don’t know how to procure the materials needed for projects during the lockdown.

Vani, parent of a 10 year old, said, “Although I am happy that the children are busy with their academics and that they are assigned several projects and activities, it is sometimes hectic for us. My child has usually a lot of doubts and she has the habit of asking questions. But during online class she does not how to approach the teacher. Later, I am forced to call the teacher personally and clarify her doubts”

Even the teachers face a lot of problems due to the online education system. Due to the lockdown, they are not paid well and government has also ordered to not collect fees from the parents which makes it harder for the management to run the schools.

As most of the senior teachers are not aware of the internet and its functionality they are struggling to communicate with the students.

Students create Zoom IDs in random, unidentifiable names and troll teachers. Some switch off their camera and call teachers names from these IDs, some use them to send memes to teachers

Seema, a private school teacher, “ We are not paid well amid lockdown and upon that we are told to assign various tasks to keep children busy during lockdown. We struggle to deal with the kids online. Most of them do not complete assignments and projects assigned to them and when questioned they either switch off their phones or choose to not attend online classes for days”

Well, Online education can change the whole future scenario in education only if these problems are tackled. Experts suggests change in the education process sby making it more practical with the use of technology