And for a Friday with my Mumbai Grandkids attending “On-line” classes from Bangalore, some thoughts….. some hopes…..
COVID has done immeasurable damage at every strata of Society, not just those afflicted or bereaved but even those who have successfully dodged the Virus. Amongst the impacted are innocent school going kids. Watching my 6 and 4 year trying to concentrate on the computer screen and respond to the teachers instructions, I was amazed how at one level they were so Tech comfy – muting themselves, putting on their screen presence and following the teacher’s instructions in toto. Yet watching from afar, I felt a tinge of sadness. Almost a whole year these kids have had no peer interaction. What impact it will have on their social skills, how does their left brain/right brain coordination, development and progress takes place etc. etc. Many concerns, not enough knowledge, no precedence to this globally unique situation, leading to my hypothesis that this system is unworkable, even with all the best of infrastructure and even in the most elite schools in any country.
Azim Premji University released their detailed study yesterday “Myths of online Education” fully vindicating my views. The problem is compounded and even more acute in Govt and Municipal schools. Study was conducted amongst 1522 teachers in as many Govt schools and 398 Parents in 26 Districts of 5 States participated. Objective of study to understand challenges experienced in online learning. 80% of Teachers said it was impossible to maintain emotional connect and no meaningful assessment of children’s learning is possible. 90% of Parents are now willing to send their children to school with adequate precautions. Anurag Behar, the VC of Premji University, sums up most eloquently. “Online education is ineffective for school age children because of the basic character of education and not merely because of lack of access to the net and online resources. School education requires physical presence, attention, thought and emotions, all to be sewn towards learning goals, step-by-step, often back and forth and different for each student. This requires verbal and nonverbal interactions amongst teachers and students”. Well said Anurag.
We are all sick and tired of this Virus. But unfortunately the Virus is still virulent, active and lurking in the background. Hence we all must continue to “live with the Virus” till the Vaccines arrive, sooner than anticipated. Let’s all be hopeful, the caring way, the scientific way, the SEEGOS way.