Covid showed us the value of education

We always say education should be free for all, education is every one’s birth right and so on, but Covid showed us the value of education.
There are countries which continued to call the children to school stating that they cannot jeopardise the future of the student. How important is the future of a first grade student is equally proportionate to the genuineness of the effort of entire system.
This pandemic taught us lot of things and the value of education. On one hand, the educated lot already in service could continue to work even though the salary packages came down but they still had their job intact. On the other hand, daily wagers, mostly partially literate people, were left without work. Amazingly, education was the only sector that was left in lockdown post ‘Mission Begin Again’ started.
The teachers’ fraternity delved into their inner resources, and made themselves tech literate and reached out to their students. Universities, though laughed at, still managed to find solutions to assess students online but a big lock hung at the institutions’ doors.
People indulged in their partying, processions of all kinds, be it Kumbh, elections or Holi celebrations, which were being seen as occasions to indulge in gatherings, but students were kept away from institutions. Let us also not forget that these students had their own socialising routines throughout the lockdown.
No kind of free education or reducing the load of academics on students will inculcate respect for education. We have to accept that culture of education is yet to catch up in our country. Appreciation for freebies in education and for future opportunities arising out of education are to be highlighted to the parents so that they can inculcate in their kids the respect education deserves.
The so-called wisest community of teachers was not trusted with their wisdom for managing schools in a safe manner.
The value of education was devalued on the mere argument that whether the schools should charge fee or not? Fee became a commodity on the fish market, open for all negotiations. A parent who has all kinds of resources for material things, his child’s fee is an argumentative issue.
A government which feels the need to take charge of all matters of education so that parents and students aren’t cheated by fraudulent agencies is quietly passing months letting the children sit at home.
The effect of online teaching on a child will be lack of discipline in students, where they do not understand how to formally dress for institution, display of formal etiquettes when we meet our adults or seniors.
We are depriving our children from social etiquettes. We are limiting the choices of Gen Z by not exposing them to the norms of a regular life. We are raising a lazy Gen Z.
Imagine a life of a toddler will always be lost because his growing years were deprived of the socially acceptable behaviour as they never were exposed to socialising.
Covid is here to stay, it is not going away anytime soon and probably many more viruses will contaminate our environment given the imbalance created on our earth, but will our next generations only be exposed to a world through mobile screens?
Technology was certainly everyone’s friend during the pandemic but to befriend it for life is going to have a lasting effect on the tender minds. If this is going to be our world, then our Gen Z better learn to adapt and develop right understanding towards it.
If commercial activity is a must even though pandemic is soaring, then GenZ’s future is more important because they are the future world and they should be allowed to take responsible decisions. Expose them to the open contaminated environment and see that they will innovate a way of life.