Online study during the Covid era
Answers
Explanation:
Since the COVID -19 pandemic has disrupted the normal lifestyle of people across the globe, the virtual world has come to the rescue. Amongst many institutions schools have also shifted their base to virtual platforms to conduct classes online. Consequently, catering to the needs of all stages of education from pre-primary to university level, online education has emerged as an alternative to ordinary face to face classes. Accordingly, various stakeholders such as government and private organizations are trying their best to assist each other by sprucing up their existing online platforms, apps and providing training to teachers to use these apps and platforms to the optimum level. Moreover, efforts are being made by both government and non-government organisations and edtech companies to support the school system to make a smooth transition to the virtual world. Upskilling and motivating teachers, organising counselling sessions for stakeholders such as teachers, parents and students are some of the important measures taken by the administration in the recent past. Making a continuous effort to provide customised teaching-learning material suitable for online classes is another way of facilitating the schooling of children. The Central government has recently launched the PM e-VIDYA platform, with 12 new DTH channels, one for each class to reach out to all stratas of society. These efforts have proved beneficial to a sizable chunk of the school-going population.
However, this alternative medium has also brought to the fore some stark persistent realities of Indian society characterised by social inequalities in terms of availability of resources, essential to access these online classes/platforms. These digital initiatives are perpetuating the hegemony of elite schools over the education system, resulting in the digital divide between rural and urban and rich and poor. This digital divide is also affecting the work and role of the government as well as non-government organisations across states as they are facing challenges due to the recent migration of millions of labourers to their native places. Both the central as well as state governments will have to make a road map not only for labourers’ employment but for the education of their children too. Given the great difference in the infrastructure across states in terms of internet and allied facilities it appears to be a huge task. In addition, the non-government organisations that support the marginalised sections of the society in terms of health, education and livelihood and also collaborate with governments are facing financial crunch as most of the funds are being diverted to tackle the pandemic.