Task cut out for school, college authorities
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: November 11, 2021 -

AFTER seven months of disruption to normal academic chores owing to the hapless pandemic situation this year, the path has been cleared for resumption of classes for IX standard and above though there is no guarantee that there would not be any further derailment of the conventional teaching-learning process unless the threat is completely over.

During the virulent stages of the Covid waves that severely affected normal lifestyle of people across the globe, the virtual world came to the rescue of many with employees in business and administrative sectors revolving around information technology shifting to work from home mode and education institutions too turning their base to virtual platforms to conduct classes online.

While profits for commercial outlets dipped as a consequence of the pandemic-induced change in the working style, education was the hardest hit sector in-spite of a semblance of catering to the needs of all stages of education from pre-primary to university level.

As online education emerged as an alternative to ordinary face to face classes, various stakeholders such as government and private organisations had been trying their best to assist each other by sprucing up their existing online-platforms, apps and acquainting the teachers to use these apps and platforms to the optimum level.

In developed nations and regions, government, non-governmental organisations and IT companies endeavoured to support the school system to make a smooth transition to the virtual world.

There were even reports about up-skilling and motivating teachers, organising counselling sessions for stakeholders such as teachers, parents and students for overcoming the difficult times brought by the pandemic.

However, in Manipur, not to speak of other states, the task to keep the momentum of education was mainly shouldered by authorities of schools and colleges with the government simply donning the role of formulating safety protocols as per the evolving situation.

Though not fully satisfactory, there have been concerted efforts by the educational institutions, private schools in particular, to provide customised teaching-learning material suitable for online classes as an alternative means to facilitate education of children.

No doubt, the union government launched the PM e-VIDYA platform, with 12 new DTH channels, one for each class to reach out to all strata of society and these efforts proved beneficial to a sizable chunk of the school-going population.

This alternative medium also brought to the fore some stark persisting realities of the society characterised by social inequalities in terms of availability of resources, essential to access these online classes or platforms.

Surveys showed that these digitalinitiatives were swiftly adopted by elite schools consequently-bringing to the fore the digital divide between rural and urban and rich and poor. Students and teachers also had their own struggles while accessing these online platforms.

Due to financial constraints, many students were or are still not able to access the internet, and are devoid of electronic gadgets and laptop, phone or computer.

Given the existing difference in the infrastructure across the state in terms of internet and allied facilities, there was no way that universal education could be ensured to all in these pandemic times.

Amid the challenging situation, the government of Manipur has laid down strict guidelines for resumption of conventional mode of education complying with which there is strong possibility for continuation of the higher education sector even if there is detection of Covid-19 positive cases at the current and lower rate.

As the preventive measures laid down by the government entails diligent implementation of the existing standard operating procedures, the onus for enabling the students to pursue their life goal would now depend entirely on efficiency and commitment of school and college authorities to monitor conduct of both the teachers and the taught once they step into the classrooms.