Impact of COVID-19 virus on Indian education

Inforida Technologies -

COVID-19 has affected more than 98 million people worldwide. The educational sectors of India, as well as the world, are badly impacted by COVID-19. It has forced the worldwide lockdown creating devastating effects on the life of the 320 million learners in India. The outbreak of COVID-19 has taught us that change is inevitable. COVID-19 has significantly disrupted the education sector which is a critical determinant of a country’s economic future. It has worked as a catalyst for educational institutions to grow and opt for digital platforms, which they have not experienced before. The education sector has been fighting to survive the crisis with a different approach and digitizing the challenges to deal with the threat of the pandemic. As per the UNESCO report, about 14 crores of primary and 13 crores of secondary students are affected which are the two most affected levels in India.

The devastating impact of COVID-19 on education:

  1. Educational activity: Classes were suspended and exams at different levels were postponed. Different boards have already postponed the annual examinations and entrance tests. The admission process got delayed. Due to continuity in lockdown, the academics of students suffered a loss of nearly 1 year(2020–21).
  2. Impact on employment: Employment rates went to record low and placements were no longer valid.
  3. Unprepared teachers/students for online education: Not all teachers/students are good at it or at least not all of them were ready for this sudden transition from face to face learning to online learning. Most of the teachers are just conducting lectures on video platforms such as Zoom, Google classroom, Microsoft Teams, etc. which may not be real online learning without any dedicated online learning platform.
  4. Reduced global employment opportunity.
  5. Increased responsibility of parents to educate their wards.
  6. Loss of nutrition due to school closure.
  7. Digital division: Approx 92% of Students have limited or no internet access and many students may not be able to afford a computer, laptop, or supporting mobile phones in their homes, online teaching-learning has created a digital divide among students.
  8. No access to global education.
  9. Payment of Schools, Colleges fee got delayed

The positive impact of COVID-19 on education:

  1. The movement towards Blended Learning: COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies to deliver education. Educational institutions moved towards the blended mode of learning. It encouraged all teachers and students to become more tech-savvy.
  2. The boom in the use of Learning Management Systems(LMS): Use of learning management systems by educational institutions became a great demand.
  3. The astronomical increase in the use of the soft copy of learning material: In lockdown situation students was not able to collect the hard copies of study materials and hence most of the students used of soft copies materials for reference.
  4. Improvement in collaborative work: There is a new opportunity where collaborative teaching and learning can take on new forms. A lot of collaborative learning tools have emerged in the last 1 year.
  5. Rise in online classes and meetings: The pandemic has created a massive rise in online classes, teleconferencing, virtual meetings, webinars, and e-conferencing tools.
  6. Enhanced Digital Literacy: The pandemic situation induced people to learn and use digital technology and resulted in increasing digital literacy.
  7. Improved the use of electronic media for sharing information: Learning materials are shared among the students easily and the related queries are resolved through e-mail, SMS, phone calls, and using different social media like WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram, etc.
  8. World wide exposure: Educators and learners are getting opportunities to interact with peers from around the world. Learners adapted to an international community.
  9. Better time management: Students can manage their time more efficiently in online education during pandemics.
  10. Demand for Open and Distance Learning (ODL): During the pandemic situation most of the students preferred ODL mode as it encourages self-learning providing opportunities to learn from diverse resources and customized learning as per their needs.

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