The whole world, including India, is passing through unprecedented difficult times due to the outbreak of COVID-19 Pandemic. As all universities, colleges and schools are closed due to national lock down, the teaching — learning processes and research activities have been badly disrupted.
Recently, the Delhi Government announced that it would conduct online classes for Class XII students, but school teachers say that it is impractical since most of the students do not have access to the required digital facilities.
Teachers working in elite schools in cities and big towns may proudly state that they conduct classes online and help the students make use of the lock down period in a useful manner.
What about teachers working in Government Schools, ZP High Schools, Panchayat Schools in rural areas? Neither teachers nor students have access to the required digital facilities.
However, in the education domain, now, we have three main opportunities:
Gen Z learners are true digital natives. They are born in digital era and are familiar with computers, multimedia content and internet based activities from an early age. As they live in online environment and speak the language of technology; they need to be taught differently.
Now, it is the right time to introduce elearning and develop learner autonomy.
The COVID-19 lockdown has enabled teachers to become creative. They can now create e-material such as YouTube videos and PPTs and share the links with the students and engage them during the lockdown period.
In a country where access to the internet and high speed connectivity is still a problem and the digital divide is an issue, it is important to address these challenges. Those who are involved in education planning and administration should give a serious thought to reducing the digital divide in the country.
The need is to establish digital and online education wing in higher education. We need to create a mechanism, engaging the students during the lockdown period, in an effective, educative and constructive way so that they do not lose the focus.
The students going to American Universities for pursuing higher education and in addition they prefer American Education because of the job opportunities available in the US. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, several MNCs are pulling out their operations from China and they may prefer India.
Simultaneously, the Government is planning the development of necessary infrastructure and creating conducive environment for the ease of doing business.
Post COVID-19 could be a game changer for education sector in the country, if we use the technology effectively and make use of the opportunities.