How has COVID-19 impacted the Education system in India?

“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

Sometime in the second week of March, state governments across the country began shutting down the schools and colleges temporarily as a measure to control the spread of the novel coronavirus. It has been a petrifying impact of COVID-19 on the whole world. A UNESCO report estimates that the coronavirus pandemic will adversely impact over 290 million students across 22 countries. UNESCO estimates that about 32 crores students are affected in India, including those in schools and colleges.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas” has united Indians and inspired them to focus on progress, prosperity, and harmony. The Prime Minister emphasized education. The scheme will construct more than 400 new Ekalavya Model Residential Schools for tribal children by 2022 are a case in point.

Education is one of the several sectors that have been severely affected by the lockdown. Generally, at this time of the year, all the children used to witness a flurry of activities, but the schools and colleges worldwide have been in a deserted state as the premises are closed to protect students and prevent contagion.

As a result, the government has come up with an e-learning program. Many education firms have seen as high as 25% uptick in e-learning. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has prompted schools and colleges to rethink there teaching methods. Digital education appeared to be the best method to keep the education system running.

The online module of learning is also proving to be a bit difficult for the parents as the major amount of burden is on the parents as some schools have also made it compulsory for the parents to sit with the student during online lectures. The classroom-based studies have to be up and running after the coronavirus is controlled and maybe slowly.

In case of India, we still have a long way to go before digital learning is seen as mainstream education, because students living in urban area have the facilities to opt for digital education, however, rural area students do not have the required infrastructure nor are financially strong to avail the resources required for digital education.

Some schools and colleges have started taking home exams as well. Some schools and colleges have also made this as an opportunity to earn. Education being a part of the concurrent list in the 7th schedule, both the Centre and the state governments can make laws on the subject. But in case of conflict between Central and the State laws, it is the Central law that would prevail.

The HRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal had in April asked all the private institutions to reconsider the annual fee hikes and collectively quarterly fees during the coronavirus lockdown, there has been no uniformity on the subject across all the states.

At least nine states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Odisha, have issued notifications to the schools in their jurisdiction with varying relief. The matter has also reached several high courts. While at least seven high courts have either stayed notifications barring schools from hiking fees or rejected petitions against the collection of fees during the lockdown.

Meanwhile, a petition was also filed in the Supreme Court, demanding the waiver of private school fees for a period of three months, from April to July 2020, and seeking a direction to schools to not remove enrolled students due to non-payment of fees which was rejected to be entertained and the petitioners (parents from different states) were asked to approach the high court for relief.

Various High Courts have given a mixed bag of orders across the country so far. Bombay High Court on 26th June stayed the government regulation that barred schools and educational institutions from charging fees at a hiked rate for the 2020-2021 session.

Also, Kerala High Court rejected the demands of collecting fees on grounds that the teachers and other staff are being paid. Rajasthan High Court disposed of a petition on the basis that the state government had assured that it has deferred payment of private school fees for three months, however, the advisory is still awaited. In Punjab and Haryana High Court, it was held that irrespective of whether they offered online classes during lockdown or not, are entitled to collect tuition fees but were restrained to increase the fees. Even, Delhi High Court rejected a similar petition.

The most recent judgment comes from the Madhya Pradesh High Court stayed the government order restraining private CBSE schools from charging fees other than tuition fees. It however restrained the schools from charging fees that are not rendered by then during the closure, such as transportation and mess fees.

Avanti, a social educational enterprise set up in 2010 has launched a free learning app for Hindi medium Government school students in Classes IX to XII. The Sankalp app, which can be installed from the Google Play Store has recorded video content, solved examples, and quizzes in the subjects of Mathematics and Science. They also conduct free live classes for IX to XII students on Youtube, Facebook, and other social media platforms. They have also partnered with State Governments of Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh.

ThinkZone, a startup from Odisha is using Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Short Message Service (SMS), and radio to help households with no Internet access. Thee activities are available in Odia, Hindi, and English.

Due to the outbreak of the pandemic, the work from home culture is booming in India. As social distancing is prescribed as the best way to curb the spread of COVID-19, companies are facing various challenges in running their business.

Therefore, all the major business platforms have opted for an online platform like Zoom App to stay connected with their employees who are working from their homes. The schools have also started using these apps. Again the question is raised for students in rural areas, the education system in rural areas.

CONCLUSION:

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed everything we have known about the world, our life, and our place on this planet. The learning of children will at this point is very important. The burden of running schools, meeting costs, paying teachers, paying rents, upkeep of infrastructure, and keeping the student engaged in learning from homes has now shifted to a significant degree to the educational institutions. The states may need to approach this with equal consideration for everyone.

The schools running and embracing online learning are staying relevant now but this module of learning cannot replace the schools and class-based learning. Through the use of technology, we can, if not provide a strong alternative to the conventional education system but compensate for the inconvenience caused due to COVID 19 pandemic to the education system. Education can bring the desired change in the future. If you want to shape the future shape the education system accordingly.