7 Things the Pandemic Has Taught us About our Education System

When the Prime Minister had announced the lockdown on 24th March, little did we know that it would mean that our colleges and school will remain shut for over 4 months and the pandemic will force us to cancel some of the class 12th board exams and postpone numerous other competitive exams. Nevertheless, this pandemic has taught us about our education system more than any fact finding committee could tell us about an ‘encounter’. Here are 7 things the pandemic has taught us about our education system.

1. Over-emphasis on examinations

First this pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has made us (at least me) realise the emphasis that our education system places on examinations to test the mental ability of a student. This emphasis is evident from the decision of the UGC to conduct exams for final year students or even for that matter dropping several important chapters from school syllabi for class X and XII board examination (which, though not stated explicitly, has been solely done to make the students score better in examinations).

2. Bureaucratic Centralisation

Second, there has been noticeable change during the pandemic in the manner in which the Central government and the University Grants Commission have imposed themselves on the daily functioning of all higher educational institutions. This represents a new government-oriented bureaucratic centralisation (which has been present and growing for a long time).

3. Inadequate Infrastructure

Third, infrastructure has been a major problem (even in other sectors). Take for example the RTE Act, it mandates at least one classroom for every teacher and an office cum-store-cum-head teachers’ room, safe and adequate drinking water facility to all children, separate toilets for boys and girls and arrangements for securing the school building by boundary wall or fencing. But according to this article, only 12% of the schools are RTE compliant. These problems have been ever persistent and will grow graver in a post-pandemic world.

4. Inability to Support Schools in Rural Areas

Fourth, the inability of the government to support schools in rural areas during crises as the present one. schools are not just a source of learning for the children but also provide social protection, nutrition, health and emotional support to the most disadvantaged. However due to the lockdown, the most important of these ancillary (and yet essential) functions of the schools have been affected. The mid day meal scheme which has been a huge success in not just raising the nutrition level of school level children but also in raising the gross enrolment ratio has been severely affected by the pandemic. No single description or picture can capture the impact the coronavirus pandemic has made on children’s lives than the picture clicked by Dipankar Ghose which appeared in the Indian Express newspaper on July 7. Krishna Kumar has defined the photo in great detail in the following terms:

At least six children in the photograph have the stare that speaks of hunger. I don’t mean the gaze of a hungry child desperate to be served a delayed meal. No, it is the stare that children acquire when they stop waiting for a meal. These are children in whose life eating is no longer a daily activity. They go hungry so often that they don’t expect to be fed anytime soon. Their expression reveals that. Their large eyes are without expectation.

5. Difficulties in Executing a Healthy Curriculum

Fifth problem relates to the execution of distance learning, keeping in mind a healthy curriculum for the students. Researchers at the University of Peking have said that “online sessions between 15 to 30 minutes are most effective”. How will schools and colleges (that are on an average 5 hours long with 40 minute periods) plan a time table and curriculum for the student remains to be seen.

6. Non-inclusive and Discriminatory

Sixth, this pandemic is also a test for the level of inclusivity of our education system. A survey of 3,637 differently-abled students, parents and teachers in at least nine states shows that 77% of those surveyed could fall behind in learning due to their inability to access distance learning methods while 56.5% were ‘struggling yet attending classes regularly’. It further goes on to state the difficulties faced by differently-abled students with 61% of them finding it difficult to be engaged for one hour long online class, while the absence of sign language interpreters raised trouble for around 44% with hearing disabilities.

7. (Un)Importance Attached to Teacher’s Issues

Seventh problem with our education system is our over-reliance on contractual teachers. Take for example the plight of 29,000 (which in my opinion is an underestimation) contractual teachers in Delhi. These teachers were not receiving salaries even before the pandemic broke out and the pandemic has only worsened the situation. Delhi government orders show that contracts were extended only till the announcement of the vacation (May 11-June 31, 2020), without any mention of the rest of the year. What will happen once the school reopens? Will their contract get renewed? Moreover can’t there be a permanent solution to this problem?

Key Lessons as we go Ahead

The pandemic has had an impact on each and every aspect of our life but as the saying goes every crises is a new opportunity. The learning from this crisis must now be used by our society to make our education system more resilient to changes so that even in crises as the present one, the quintessential process of learning does not stop. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has published annotated resources for online learning to support the continuation of teaching and learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic. It can be used a guide by the schools to choose online resources to devise a curriculum that is inclusive, non-discriminatory, resilient and best for the students.