Samira Naik
Human beings are born biological and become social. When interacting with the society surrounded by human beings, socializations form a critical process as it teaches the human being ways of living in society. The educational system also fulfils the role of socialization. Formal education is essential for the development of an individual, hence the development of the nation. It gives an individual status, occupation, etc.
Is the education system successful in imparting the knowledge which makes an individual perfect? Is a big question mark in the present situation of the COVID 19 pandemic, often resulting in debates, criticisms and discussions by academicians, students and parents. The nature of education has changed from time to time, from Gurukula to classroom teaching and now being a mixture of offline/online teaching. What has happened to the behaviours and actions that were considered deviant?
This article highlights on the topic of education before COVID 19 pandemic and education after COVID 19 pandemic.
This article highlights the problems and advantages faced by the students and teachers before COVID 19 pandemic and after COVID 19 pandemic. This article is written and is based on observation and experiences.
Looking at problems faced by teachers and students in education before COVID 19 pandemic, range from lack of transport, especially for students and teachers living in remote rural areas, to health, as due to lectures no proper launch and breakfast, fear to communicate by the students in a big classroom, teachers need to deal with mischievous- in disciplined, students.
As with the timings of the educational system, the students, teachers and other staff involved in the educational system hardly can spend time with the family and others in the family.
Hence socializing with neighbours, relatives, and friends is restricted. The need to adjust for students doing part-time jobs is needed for some as students come from different family backgrounds, and those who are poor to adapt to the living situation need to take up a part-time job.
Hence, they need to adjust the lectures’ timings to that of working hours, which again leads to increased absenteeism.
Moving on to the advantages of the education system before COVID 19 pandemic, Socialization is a necessary process that takes place in a better way due to face-to-face interaction; the socialization process is enhanced. The teachers can correct the deviant behaviour of the child in the classroom and on campus.
The teachers can also learn a lot from the students in their everyday class interactions. One can socialize oneself in a peer group.
Overall, leading to the development of all, as the classroom teaching is also connected with co-curricular activities and the curricular, the teachers know the students personally.
The teachers can also provide aid to students in their personal life problems. Different teaching methods can be used, ranging from lectures to field trips which motivate the child to learn more. The face to face interaction enhances teaching-learning, also giving rise to the spirit of competition.
The teaching can go as per planning, helping the teacher to know the performance of the students. The need to physically visit the educational institution leads to more presenters. Fair means are expected to be used; unfair means can attract harsh punishments. The child’s deviant behaviours are corrected, thus helping the child develop in a better way.
What has happened to the educational system after COVID 19? Well, there is more number of problems cropping up. One major issue is network connectivity faced by teachers and students living in remote rural areas, thus having negative consequences.
Online interaction is sometimes affected by poor connectivity, again leading to an increased number of absences. Besides connectivity being a reason for absenteeism, poverty is another primary reason for increased absenteeism in online education. Poor parents can’t afford laptops and mobile phones, especially when more than one child is studying. Hence a child may use a mobile phone on sharing basis to attend the classes, wherein they might miss important content taught.
In the online teaching-learning process, the teachers cannot know the students’ understanding level. Students have become lazy, as poor connectivity could be the excuse for not attending the classes.
Health issues are rising as online teaching-learning is exposed to laptops, P.C.s, and mobile phones. Few examples would be headaches, back pain, irritating eyes etc., students become addicted to mobile phones, which was otherwise considered deviant behaviour in the classroom.
As most of the students living in rural areas are found in farming practices, they could remain absent for classes offline.
They might take advantage of online classes and totally shift their interest from study to work. Online teaching is even more disadvantageous for some female students. They are also expected to do household work offline; they would manage both, but they might shift their interest to housework due to online classes.
There is growing stress among the teachers and students getting infected with COVID 19 pandemic. Even with the vaccination dose. Teaching planning can be affected as everything in the online teaching system depends upon the availability of connectivity for the teachers and the students. Due to online teaching somewhere, the activities of the students are affected. Activities like assembly, P.E., yoga would keep the child physically fit. The teacher is unable to reach out to the student’s especially those living in remote village areas.
The students are unable to grasp the content as they cannot attend daily classes regularly. There are some positives about online teaching with these disadvantages, one major being getting saved from getting infected with COVID 19 infections.
Due to online classes, a lot of time could be spent with family. Especially the students get the opportunity to spend more time with family as they are expected to attend the online classes.
The Students could attend online classes sitting at home. As the travelling time is saved easily, the time can be utilized for other activities, including playing.
The clothing style among college-going students is increasing. As a result, sometimes the poor students are stressed out as they cannot meet the demand. Online classes would be advantageous for students doing a part-time job. Otherwise, who would adjust to the timings of both.
The offline/online education system has its own pros and cons, often giving rise to discussions and debates.
