Impact on Education in the Pandemic situation

Submitted by : Nilanjana Gupta

Department : BCA (Batch : 2018 to 2021)

Roll Number : 15201218071

The impact of pandemic COVID-19 is observed in every sector of India as well as
world. The education sectors of India as well as world are badly affected by this. It
has enforced the world wide lock down creating very bad effect on the student’s
life. Around 32 crores learners stopped to move schools/colleges and all
educational activities halted in India. The outbreak of COVID-19 has taught us that
change is inevitable. It has worked as a catalyst for the educational institutions to
grow and opt for platforms with technologies, which have not been used before.
The education sector has been fighting to survive the crises with a different
approach and digitizing the challenges to wash away the threat of the pandemic.
Positive impact of COVID-19 on education
Though the outbreak of COVID-19 has created many negative impacts on
education, educational institutions of India have accepted the challenges and
trying their best to provide seamless support services to the students during the
pandemic. Indian education system got the opportunity for transformation from
traditional system to a new era. The following points may be considered as the
positive impacts:
Move towards Blended Learning: Educational institutions moved towards
blended mode of learning. It encouraged all teachers and students to become
more technology savvy. New ways of delivery and assessments of learning
opened immense opportunities for a major transformation in the area of
curriculum development and pedagogy.
Rise in use of Learning Management Systems: Use of learning management
systems by educational institutions became a great demand. It opened a great
opportunity for the companies those have been developing and strengthening
learning management systems for use educational institutions.
Enhance the use of soft copy of learning material: In lockdown situation students
were not able to collect the hard copies of study materials and hence most of the
students used of soft copies materials for reference.
Improvement in collaborative work: There is a new opportunity where
collaborative teaching and learning can take on new forms. Collaborations can
also happen among faculty/teachers across the world to benefit from each other.

Rise in online meetings: The pandemic has created a massive rise in
teleconferencing, virtual meetings, and webinars and e-conferencing
opportunities
Enhanced Digital Literacy: The pandemic situation induced people to learn and
use digital technology and resulted in increasing the digital literacy.
World wide exposure: Educators and learners are getting opportunities to
interact with peers from around the world. Learners adapted to an international
community.
Better time management: Students are able to manage their time more
efficiently in online education during pandemics
Negative impact of COVID-19 on education
Education sector has suffered a lot due to the outbreak of COVID-19. It has
created many negative impacts on education and some of them are as pointed
below:
Educational activity hampered: Classes have been suspended and exams at
different levels postponed. Different boards have already postponed the annual
examinations and entrance tests. Admission process got delayed. Due to
continuity in lockdown, student suffered a loss of nearly 3 months of the full
academic year of 2020-21 which is going to further deteriorate the situation of
continuity in education and the as students would face much difficulty in
resuming schooling again after a huge gap.
Impact on employment: Most of the recruitment got postponed due to COVID-19
Placements for students may also be affected with companies delaying the on
board of students. Unemployment rate is expected to be increased due to this
pandemic. In India, there is no recruitment in Govt. sector and fresh graduates
fear withdrawal of their job offers from private sectors because of the current
situation.
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 meet etc. which
may not be real online learning without any dedicated online learning platform.

Increased responsibility of parents to educate their wards: Some educated
parents are able to guide but some may not have the adequate level of education
needed to teach children in the house.
Loss of nutrition due to school closure: Mid day meals is a school meal
programme of the Government of India which is designed to provide better the
nutritional food to school-age children nationwide. The closure of schools has
serious implications on the daily nutrition of students as the mid-day meal
schemes have temporarily been shut. Various studies have pointed out that mid-
day meals are also an important contributing factor for increased enrolment in
the schools
Payment of Schools, Colleges fee got delayed: During this lockdown most of the
parents will be facing the unemployment situation so they may not be able to pay
the fee for that particular time periods which may affect the private institutes.
Access to digital world: As many students have limited or no internet access and
many students may not be able to afford computer, laptop or supporting mobile
phones in their homes, online teaching-learning may create a digital divide among
students. The lockdown has hit the poor students very hard in India as most of
them are unable to explore online learning according to various reports. Thus the
online teaching-learning method during pandemic COVID-19 may enhance the
gap between rich/poor and urban/rural.

Conclusion

Even if the COVID-19 crisis stretches longer, there is an urgent need to take
efforts on maximum utilization of online platforms so that students not only
complete their degree in this academic year but also to get ready for the future
digital oriented environment. The concept of “work from home” has greater
relevance in such pandemic situation to reduce spread of COVID-19. India should
develop creative strategies to ensure that all children must have sustainable
access to learning during pandemic COVID-19. The Indian policies must include
various individuals from diverse backgrounds including remote regions,
marginalized and minority groups for effective delivery of education. As online
practice is benefitting the students immensely, it should be continued after the
lockdown.