Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on School Education

 by T. Aswini Patro

The world is saddened to see a newly discovered virus called COVID-19 in full swing amongst the superior descendants of Mother Earth. We the human beings the so-called Homosapien's are just counting their days in lockdown. We are just following social distancing so as to avoid our way to almighty. During this pandemic situation (as declared by WHO), the major threat to humanity is social gatherings where this virus spreads exponentially aiming to attack the respiratory tract. It is the time to recount what the

Youngest Nobel Prize Winner of Peace Malala Yousafzai has said: "One book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world". But considering the old proverb which speaks ‘Health is Wealth’, so our government has announced the closure of schools, colleges, and other educational institutions for the betterment of the literate youth.

Father of Liberalism once said, ‘If by gaining knowledge we destroy our health, we labor for a thing that will be useless in our hands’ and it follows right for this present horrible situation. No doubt schools being shut down have adverse and unbelievable consequences. It affects majorly on a student’s academic career and its reports. Days out of school snatches away essential fun of learning with teachers and classmates from students. To fight against the novel virus, schools have been closed for many weeks and interrupted the smooth start of new academic sessions and disturbed academic calendars.

Some school students are also stuck with the dilemma that how they will appear the tests or exams if their school is one of those who conduct or end up its exams in March end or April first fortnight. If the tests or exams are not conducted then their whole year of dedicated preparations will be dumped in dustbins, but for sure education which they gained remains immortal and helps them in their future goals. There will be no assessment of what they learned and they are hidden from their strengths and weaknesses, these prove to be the major disadvantage for the students.

The late start of textbook lessons in schools will hamper the student’s personal life as he/ she would be overburdened with the amount of study due to a faster pace than in normal conditions to complete the syllabus on time. It will affect the mental state of students mainly those who are appearing their crucial boards. It states to be challenging for below average and mediocre students to grasp the speed of completing the lengthy syllabus before the exam season commences. Maybe it would be unfair for the students if their school goes for conduction of extra classes wiping out their holidays from school calendars for timely course completion.

Amid this lockdown, UNESCO has encouraged distance learning programs and the use of educational platforms to facilitate the connection of nation-building teachers with sincere students and edge out the break of education from the learners of society. But the challenging part is that all students do not have equal access to the demanded technology. School measures every student enrolled theirs as an equally deserving candidate to access all facilities provided by the school. But in the case of distance classes at home, you can’t expect everybody fully-fledged with the required technology to conduct online classes. Some applications seemed to be rescuer, but strong questions arose about the authenticity and safety of data and personal information of the video conferencing apps such as Zoom which someway helped subject teachers to take up their periods online in the comfort of students sitting safely in his couch in his home.

When schools are shut, parents come in light and are responsible for the learning of their children at home. This may be a burden for parents who are busy at their jobs working from home as they have to look after the educational aspect of their children which they simply leave on the shoulders of school. Parents with restrained education, those with mere high school degrees, or even less than that also feel helpless to help their child in learning and coping up him/ her with other children in the class.

The best solution favors these times is self-learning (i.e. Learning by own selves in the absence of a teacher or instructor). The students should look for effective reading their textbooks, understanding the concepts and words and making notes by themselves, and noting down the doubts that can be asked now, by having a telephonic conversation with the teacher or clearing it up after bad days. The best use of the resources available is the key point of self- learning. Reading is a good habit that can be cultivated during these lockdown times so it remains as a part of daily routine forever. Believe in the power of reading as if you read a book you can just download the decades of knowledge gathered by the author just in a week.

Schools can look for some good educational online learning platforms for effective and interesting learning for the students. Students should opt-out for developing new skills through online or offline platforms such as coding, cooking, soft skills, communication, and writing. Yes, indeed, few skills will only increase the numbers in the academic report, but the learning is unbeatable which would shape an unimaginable career and help them in achieving several milestones and make them a smart outstanding student. Students can work on their personality development and fill the gap of education in these lockdowns as education without a good personality helps nothing. Invest the best time for yourself, you will get good returns.

Students should practice yoga, meditation, which balances the soul and mind. They should build good and happy relations with their parents and gain knowledge from every bit of their experiences. Start learning step by step from books and plant seeds of knowledge in the brain. Let’s hope for better days come soon and the students are back to their school praying in the chorus and waiting for bells for breaks.

T. Aswini Patro
(The Writer)
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taswinipatro.2002@gmail.com
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