Education is one of the worst affected sectors during the pandemic. It has thrown a new challenge in every student’s life. According to a UNESCO report, the learning process of around 32 crores students including 3.5 crore university students in India has been badly affected. Negative economic impact of learning losses is already being studied by many researchers. According to an OECD report, school students affected by the closures might expect 3% lower income over their entire lifetimes yielding an average of 1.5% lower annual GDP. Researchers will take longer to assess the impact of pandemic-caused learning losses on their attitude, motivation, values, as well as their future civic and social engagements.
Meanwhile, the pandemic has made every teacher and student resilient and forced them to get adapted to the new challenges. They opted for technological platforms to continue their teaching-learning process. Indian educational institutes have adjusted to the new normal despite the initial hiccups of adhering to the usage of technology. In many learning situations, students’ engagement in concrete experience, active experimentation, construction and deconstruction of physical artefacts, and intense collaborations play a crucial role in facilitating deeper learning. Consequently, in spite of their affordances and advantages, in many situations, the online classes fall short of providing an ideal environment for such experiential engagements.
Reopening of university campuses is essential for restoring the academic engagement of students. Now, physical classes are being considered to be safe with appropriate following of COVID SOPs including maintaining physical distance and use of hand sanitisers in all classrooms, offices, etc. After a significant decay of COVID-19 and an excellent growth in vaccination, Indian university campuses are gradually reopening across the country with many students turning up for physical classes.
With the reopening of university campuses, the learning gap due to the pandemic can be narrowed and more students are expected to enroll themselves enthusiastically. In hybrid teaching, different groups of students simultaneously attend the classes physically and virtually. Teachers have to simultaneously address the learning needs of in-person as well as online learners.
The writer is Prof. Sanjay Goel, Director (Institute of Engineering & Technology) JKLU, Jaipur