Online Education during a Pandemic in India- Boon or Bane?

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world".

As Nelson Mandela rightly remarks, that we have the weapon to change the world but the present scenario doesn't really permit us to do so. The sudden lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed schools and teachers of both public and private institutions into an emergency remote teaching mode.

The wise usage of the autonomy provided to the teachers and the truncated contact hours to guide students through their learning process with activity-based learning to replicate the face to face teaching model is being questioned now.

The flipping of responsibility, of students becoming in charge of their own learning is helping to develop student agency as they are forming their voice, working on their own in collaboration with peers and learning through regular activities but the tactile experience of a nod, or a pat on the back are the reassuring moments that are nearly impossible to replicate online. The critical visual connect between the teacher and the student is somewhere being compromised drastically while designing any online education sessions including video conferencing tools.

In a country like India, we are still far away to bring technology in every home. According to a survey, for 2,000 children, all first generation learners, in a Bengaluru based school only two or three students gathered at selected homes with appropriate distancing shared a smartphone.

For high school and college students, who are more interested in bullying the teachers during video conference classes is in limelight. Teachers complaint about students sending derogatory remarks through unknown usernames and harassing them for no reason. The hardwork of teachers who invest extra time to understand the technology and then prepare for the class goes in vain.

No matter how simple a technology or plan is being used to provide education to all, some of the children will remain left out during critical situations due to multiple causes such as poverty, migration, family problems and so on. The education system is destined to face an array of issues post covid. These range from a new burden on Government schools due to influx of students from low fee private schools as many of them will no longer be able to afford to pay for education due to financial constraints to psycho social problems of children arising out of problems at home.