Online Education in India is still an idea involving mixed opinions on whether it can lead us to a better future or will lead to the worst?
The year 2020 has been a roller-coaster in terms of tragedies and incidents across the globe.
Bush fires, ocean oil spills and the chartbuster, Corona Virus outbreak unveiled the harsh reality in front of everybody that we are not going to sustain in the way we live.
The Devastating State of Education Section in India
As far as Corona Virus’s impacts are concerned, I feel that next to the economy, education is the sector devastated in every corner of the world.
This pandemic is seriously affecting every person in connection with the education sector. Be it teachers, students, staff members, working officials or institutions as a whole.
However, we, as humans, are called Homosapiens for a reason.
We have survived harsh adversity for ages.
Likewise, we found a way to cope-up with the present situation of crisis – Online Education!
As we are in a pandemic situation, education in online classes has become the new normal in our daily lives, whether in schools, colleges, offices, etc.
But people have a stigma that online education in India is not worthy of being the primary education mode.
Honestly, I don’t deny it! (Not as a stigma but as a fact) keeping in mind the present state of awareness.
My thoughts on the mode of Online Education
I am a college student myself and frankly speaking, I like the online class very much!
Because I don’t have to get into the bus at 8 am, reach college at 9 am, spend my day till 4:00 pm there, jotting down notes and attending it for college attendance which is not the everyday case but the mandatory attendance rule of 75% just pisses me off.
Whereas in the online class, it is much easier and reliable than that.
The teachers provide us with the subject contents in Google Classroom and lecture video links uploaded on YouTube by the respective subject teacher.
In addition to it, we have to attend live doubt class every day of one subject a day. In this manner, we have to study 2 subjects every day with our 100% focus & attention.
This is how our college is conducting online classes. The mode can differ, but the idea is somewhat the same everywhere.
What I like about this system is that it saves a lot of time for us daily.
We can revise the daily taught subjects and still have time in hand to do the things we like; both professionally and personally, which is not at all the case with physical classes.
It is beneficial for us because we as youth need to excel in many fields along with academics for making our country reach new heights of glory in terms of development & prosperity.
Unveiling the Truth
Now to the readers who can resonate with my opinion & experience will be feeling a bit more relaxed by finding a like-minded attitude (Give me a High-five dude!), but some readers can be angry by reading this.
To bring your dopamine levels on the track of reality, I want to state the present drawbacks of online classes.
I won’t save it for last as I want to stay honest and convince you to transform education for the better days ahead!
Present Drawbacks of Online Education in India:
1) Delay in doubt clarification of students.
2) Lack of physical learning in terms of subject practicals & practical learnings.
3) Lacking the essence of discipline among students.
4) Lack of proper infrastructure and resources.
5) Lack of tech literacy among teachers.
Students have been facing various problems related to depression anxiety, poor internet connectivity and an unfavourable study environment at home.
Students from remote areas and marginalized sections mainly are facing enormous challenges for the study during the pandemic.
UNESCO 2020 has reported that around 320 million learners are affected in India, of which about 34 million students belong from the tertiary level of education (College Level).
So that’s the reality for you which we cannot deny, and the reason I wrote it in the beginning section of this article is to make everyone analyse the current situation we are in.
Also, there is a dialogue in a Japanese Anime, Ahiru No Sora and that was;
“Accept the harsh reality in the first place, and the only thing left to achieve is the road to transform it into the reality we want!”
So, let’s accept it and march ahead to make the education condition from mediocre to outstanding.
Can we make Online Education in India an achievable goal?
Following are the actions that can increase your belief in the dream of Transforming India’s Education:
The vitality of Digital Education
Believe it or not, but it is due to the pandemic only, all the institutions and teachers themselves felt the need for tech literacy both personally and academically. Otherwise, even in someone’s dream, no one would have started to learn the digital platform for teaching.
Self-awareness among students
Being a student myself, I feel that when we are in the class, no matter how hard anybody tries, the mind wanders a lot, thereby causing trouble in focusing. Sometimes we act casually that the teacher will be here only.
And we sometimes take the teachers for granted thinking that they are here to teach us, will never go anywhere and are there to help if needed at any moment.
But in an online class, it’s not like that. We very well know that there will be a time gap in our doubt raising and teacher’s explanation.
So, we always (Or I personally) pay full attention to studying which knowingly or unknowingly increases my self-awareness on the topic of study, I can connect the dots faster and most importantly the level of understanding is better than ever.
When we as students trouble understanding a topic in online mode and become impatient, then that is when we feel the utmost need to concentrate, which helps us give extra efforts and finally get hold of that topic.
The Gift of Digital Notes Library
There might be no student who didn’t miss a class in their academic life or fail to make notes of any subject or topic.
You can very well resonate with the horrible experience of asking friends for notes because they may make some mistake or another that you copy ultimately.
Maybe you won’t even get one if you are self-reserved or don’t have good friends. (Serious problem of introverts).
But now, it’s peanuts for us as we are getting the digital study materials directly from the teachers.
It becomes easier for the students who missed the classes due to personal reasons to cope quickly, efficiently, and effectively.
I know that it is too tough for the teachers to cope with the extra work of preparing teaching materials for students and explaining everything.
But the best way to repay them is by attending their sessions properly, scoring good marks and writing quality assignments.
Because
“When a teacher is rewarded with students’ loyalty for his teachings, he/she can break down mountains in front to provide the best-in-class education to them.”
Repeatability is a Benediction
My teachers upload the video lectures on YouTube. I watch and re-watch them as many times as I want to clearly understand the topics.
Those who study throughout in online class or any other platform can use some recording software or app to achieve this feature.
The point being, we can make some arrangements to record or capture the teachings for revision purpose.
Of course, it will take efforts from the students.
But if they pull it off, it will help them increase their topic understanding. Thanks to the repeated explanations that are not always possible in physical education.
Is Online Education in India a Ray of hope for a bright future?
The answer is not linear, as people are favouring this method and also people who aren’t.
At present, the internet facility is not very impressive in every corner of the country.
The majority of the country citizens cannot afford the internet facility to avail hours of online content.
The majority of the teachers are antipathetic to this mode of study.
Even schools and colleges are getting highly impatient to reopen themselves for the regular classes. Moreover, they are thinking to shut down these online classes as soon as possible.
But what I feel is the opportunity to jump to the new normal!
You know that the education system is following the same pattern & curriculum for decades.
Don’t you find it ridiculous when a 30 or 40-year-old tells you after watching your notebook that the same type of question came in his examination back then as well?
I mean, how can we solve today’s problem with these outdated questions?
So that’s why we are in a severe need to avail this opportunity to raise the standard of Indian Education to match World Education; both academically & technically and online education in India is the key to make it happen.
I know that this dream is too ambitious, but if we don’t go after it, then the future of New & Powerful India will never hit real grounds.
So where should we start?
Well, the first thing that should be done is to keep at least the online notes sharing facility (Example; Google Classroom) of the online classes active even after the pandemic wipes off.
Secondly, to continue using animations and digital teaching content either for teaching or at least as an ally to make students understand better.
Thirdly, implement a compulsory national training program for students to learn about digital etiquette of formal communication, documentation, reporting work, etc. in the working sector, thereby vitalising tech literacy.
Fourthly, to implement a compulsory training program to train students about environment conservation practices, organic farming, organic composting, waste management, and all the life skills to help them live a sustainable lifestyle.
Because
“Not everybody is going to avail six salaried figure jobs, but everybody has to be alive and paying attention to the present state of our planet, it needs to be sustainable!”
I know the target is very far away but let’s not forget that we are Indians and have made impossible things possible.
So, at last, concluding the article with a brilliant quote which blends with our ambition and that’s:
Thank You
