Research Based Project
Q4. Refer to articles on the subject and conduct a research on how the pandemic affected the field of
education. Present your findings and your ideas in the form of an essay in 400-500 words.
The impact of Covid-19 pandemic was observed in every sector around the world. The education sectors
specially of India were badly affected by this pandemic.This pandemic enforced the world wide
lockdown creating very adverse affects on student’s life. Around 32 crores student’s education and all
educational activities in school and colleges halted in India. Moreover, this pandemic has affected more
than 4.5 million people and according to the UNESCO report , it had affected more than 90% of total
world’s student population. In India, more than 32 crores of students have been affected by the various
restrictions and the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19. Furthermore, after the outbreak of this
pandemic situation, WHO advised to maintain social distancing as the first prevention step. So, all the
countries took a strong action which was a lockdown to separate the contaminated people .The education
sectors including schools,colleges and universities were closed. Classes suspended and all examinations
of schools , colleges and universities including entrance tests were postponed indefinitely.The
educational system from elementary to tertiary level has been collapsed during the lockdown period.
Moreover, humans found out a way in which they came out of the rigorous classroom teaching model to
a new era of digital model.The educational institutes ,teachers and students met these upcoming
challenges with the help of online classes. Online learning allowed students to work and learn at their
own pace and time.
The digital divide in India is an ongoing problem and the pandemic has made it worse for the have-not
sections. As many as 80% of Indian students couldn’t access online schooling during the lockdown.
The wide gap between those with the means to benefit from the internet, and those without the devices
already sparked levels of inequality.E-learning, as the name suggests, relies on the availability and
accessibility of technology, but little or no availability of electricity is a very notable challenge which
turns the online classes from being an advantage to being an obstacle for poor students. In a recent 2017-
18 survey, the Ministry of Rural Development found that only 47% of Indian households receive more
than 12 hours of electricity and more than 36% of schools in India operate without electricity. This
suggests that while students from families with better means of living can easily bridge the transition to
remote learning but the students from underprivileged backgrounds are perishing due to the inefficiency
and a lack of adaptation. The worse effect of digital divide is on the rural area than the urban area where
the girls are suffering more than boys. A mere 13% of people were surveyed in rural areas and just 8.5%
of females were able to use the internet. Girls in the rural households faced increased domestic duties
which induced their inability to access online education either because of inadequate access to the
internet and gadgets or because the boys of the house and their teachings was prioritised. The quick shift
to e-learning prompted by the pandemic has again increased the long-standing issues of inequality and a
digital divide in India. The pandemic has not only caused the wide rift in educational inequality but also
aggravated the existing disparities. Moreover, every problem has a creative solution and so India has
found out various ways to lessen the digital divide. Mini classrooms were set up in community spaces
with small groups of students. The teacher used to spend a couple of hours in each room, engaging with
all students at least twice a week. This practice has been listed as one the best practices by India’s
ministry of education. Another innovative approach was implemented by some teachers in a remote tribal
village. They came up with the idea of converting the village into an open classroom , converting walls
into blackboards for each student. Therefore ,the teachers moved around the village and helped each
child in solving problems on their blackboards.
Change is the law of life and to practice this law , we need to respond to the new changes around us.
Therefore, the traditional educational system had to be overhauled to suit the changing times. The
change was brought in the way of teaching, learning, curriculum and pedagogy. . The majority of
students around the world, who have access to smartphones, are able to use these as learning devices.
Teachers some with no previous experience of teaching online discovered many new approaches. At first,
the teachers taught like they used to during online classes but soon they discovered that this was not the
strategy and so experimented with with personal challenges like small group work , project based
learning and recording of short videos. They began to explore pedagogy , the science and art of
instruction based on design. Some were inspired by examples for creative arts and music, where Zoom
rehearsals and performances produced remarkable and life-changing events. The present pandemic
situation has caused a lot damage to almost all walks of life but still opened a lot of opportunities and
experiences for the students and teachers.
