By Aditi Sinha
The education sector’s new normal is a bit more challenging than others. The whole education sector has suffered and has changed dramatically. Now the entire teaching process is undertaken by teachers remotely, on digital platforms. Due to the prolonged out of school learning, teachers fear that it might lead to the alienation of children from school systems.
Challenges faced by teachers learning to adapt to the new normal
Although India is not very new to the concept of online teaching, the multitude of challenges faced by the teachers are incomparable. This has positioned our education system on a shaky foundation resulting in an education crisis. Let’s shed some light on the obstacles of online teaching:
Difficulty in handling new technology– Initially lack of expertise in operating new technologies by traditional classroom teachers hindered the process of teaching to a great extent.
Lack of interaction– In non-digital teaching method, a teacher and a student developed a connection over time which helped make teaching interactive. On digital platforms it is apparently a tedious job.
Network issues– Students, living in areas where internet connection is not stable, found it burdensome to attend a virtual session daily.
Disturbance due to informal environment– Sometimes a doorbell might ring or the dog might want to make a cameo in the teacher’s virtual session. All these break the flow of teaching and hampers student’s concentration.
Adjusting to new routines– Even if the teachers fix a routine for every class, it is very easily liable to changes. This shifts the interest of students from studying.
Disruptions in academic calendar– Taking examinations digitally is a cumbersome task in a system which has never relied on any other method except doing the traditional way.
Challenges in rural areas
Online teaching in government schools and colleges especially in rural areas is even tougher. The government should address this problem on high priority. according to a report based on National Sample Survey 2017-18, less than 15% of the rural Indian household have access to the internet and merely 13% of the people surveyed knew how to use the internet.
Probable solution
The effects of education crisis is manifold. The government should subsidize smart phones and phone data as soon as possible. This social disaster can be avoided if more light is provided on short and long term investments in a child’s as well as the country’s future.
