Education After the Covid19 Pandemic

Education is a vital need through which human beings are taught simple academic skills, understanding, and cultural norms. Throughout the globe, some form of educational institution exists. India has always been home to people who keep taking innovation, creativity, and leadership skills to a new level. The appraisal of India's education system may be gauged from the fact that the MNCs keep picking up products of the Indian education system such as Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft, alumni of Manipal Academy of Higher Education), Sundar Pichai (CEO of Google Inc, alumni of Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur), Ajaypal Singh Banga (President and the CEO of MasterCard, alumni of St Stephen's College, Delhi University), Rajeev Suri (CEO of Nokia, alumni of  Manipal Academy of Higher Education) and Indira Nooyi (CEO of Pepsi Co, alumni of Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta).

Effects of Covid Pandemic

The complete scenario of the world changed in 2020 due to a pandemic that modified the whole world order and its dynamic. None of the countries predicted that a pandemic like Covid-19 would come and without differentiating, it will modify the way people lived their life. The effect of covid is visible in every societal gadget and institution. To reduce its impact the Government of India decided to put the country in a temporary lockdown which meant only the necessary government operational bodies that were needed in running the country would be open and every other body, whether it was public or private, was suspended. This resulted in the closure of schools and all other educational institutions. Due to country-wide lockdown, no one could go outside and hence they started using the internet as their virtual workspace.

Solutions to the problems due to covid

Technology gave us a new platform, helping the students and teachers to connect virtually through online classrooms. It brought a new ray of hope for the students. The time which was supposed to be lost due to the lockdown could be made up for through online classes. The fear of uncertainty by missing out on a year of education was removed.

How Students were affected by covid

But there were still a lot of students who suffered because they didn’t own the resources to attend the online classes and were struggling to obtain the gadgets required for online classes. Educated parents supported their children throughout the pandemic but the same could not be said for the illiterate parents and their feeling of helplessness to help their children in their education. Some students were going to a government school so that they can get meals to fill their stomachs. The “Midday Meal program” initiated by the Government of India has been helping lakhs of underprivileged students who don’t even get enough food at the home. Most of the government school-going children are involved in physical labor to support their families. There is a high probability that the education of female children and transgender children would have been affected as their parents could not see the benefits of the financial costs of doing so.

How Schools and Institutions were affected:

Teachers who are experts in Blackboard, Chalk, books, and classroom teaching became anew to digital teaching, but they are willing to learn the new methods to help their students. On the negative side, many teachers were looking for an alternative job to support their families. This pandemic has not only affected the students and teachers but also the low-budget institutions and schools, resulting in close-down the same. For the high-budget institutions, there were problems like internet availability, stability, and infrastructure which made the institutions delay or cancel exams which lead to confusion for many students.

Traditional Learning vs Online Learning:

Traditional and Online learning institutions have both their uses and drawbacks. One thing for sure right now is that the demand for online education is on the rise because its cheap, rigorous, and easy to access but on the other hand traditional classrooms provides positive social aspects that help in developing a person overall and students gets the practical experience that is lost in online virtual learning environments.

Let’s have an overview of the advantages & disadvantages of E-Learning & traditional learning.

Positive Aspects of E-Learning/Online Learning -:

1)      Time for classes can be selected as per the student’s convenience which gives students more time for other activities.

2)      Students can learn from any place on earth.

3)      They can remain in contact with their teachers and get benefits.

4)      Students can even study in bad weather or difficult terrains.

5)      It is much cheaper than Classroom learning means it is cost-effective for learning.

6)      Teachers get additional income from online remote teaching.

Negative Aspects of E-Learning/Online Learning:

1)      Expensive gadgets like pc, laptops, tab or smartphones are needed to attend these classes.

2)      Internet availability is also important and that makes these classes more expensive.

3)      Personal Development is hampered.

4)      No hands-on knowledge can be imparted to the students.

Positive Aspects of Traditional Learning:

1)      Students can remain in physical contact with their teachers and mentors so that they can ask questions directly to them and get satisfactory answers.

2)      Personality development by developing friendships and interacting with their classmates.

3)      Experience different school, college, and university activities.

4)      They have practical knowledge of various subjects in laboratories and fields. Therefore, they can have hands-on experience.

5)      Students get their degrees physically and have better career opportunities.

Negative Aspects of Traditional Learning:

1)      The traditional way of education is much expensive because teachers can teach a smaller number of students at a time. Students have to pay much remuneration to their teachers.

2)      Students have to travel to educational institutions so that they have to pay travel expenses and sometimes, they have accommodation charges when they stay in a hostel or as paying guests.

3)      They don’t get flexibility in time although they have to reach the destination on time. They must attend lectures taken by the teachers otherwise, they miss them.

Conclusion:

As we can see, both online and traditional educational institutions offer their unique advantages and problems. We are still recovering from the disastrous effect of covid and we need to be confined to our homes to stop the spread of the virus. Thus, the students should try to be confined at home and proceed with E-Learning. Once the whole world gets vaccinated and when we reach the post covid era, the students would need to look at both types of learning in terms of flexibility, accessibility, practicality, and discipline. After carefully planning and evaluating their options, they can decide for themselves as to which education system to enroll in. It all depends on the acquisition of practical skills in a given area of ​​career or experience. For some people, an online education system is best suited, while for others, traditional on-campus education is best suited for taking a college course.