Covid-19 Affects Education

Saritha Pillai

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." 
- Nelson Mandela.

Right to Education (2009) - An Act of the Parliament of India enacted on 4 August 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in India under Article 21a of the Indian Constitution. Also, India became one of the 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the Act came into force on 1 April 2010. ( http://righttoeducation.in/know-your-rte/about)

India ranks second in the world with the highest population and at the same time the only country that fought for its right since the beginning. Whether it's for freedom, inequality, or education we Indians created a benchmark for other nations. Today, when the whole world is under a health crisis, India is one of those countries which is struggling with many other problems including education of young minds. Due to the lockdown and safety precautions of students and staff, educational institutions have selected a new way of teaching and that is, creating a classroom environment digitally. Technology has brought a new ray of hope for many of us but not for all. Considering the real situation of India, daily access to technology is a challenging one for many families even today.

Recently in the state of Kerala, India, a young girl committed suicide due to the unavailability of technology which restricted her from joining online lectures. Sacrificing of life is not a solution but her sacrifice brought light to the problem which young minds are facing in our country. Similarly, there are incidences where students are not allowed to attend lectures for not being able pay their fees. Poor access to technology along with the financial crisis is the biggest challenge in this pandemic day. We used to say that education is not served within the boundaries of four walls but today it's all on one screen. In fact, the career of students depends on that one screen where the teacher serves their knowledge and it's fed by students who have access to technology.

Creating a revolution in teaching is an achievement but starting up virtual classes without prior preparation and ignoring the problems of majority of the students might turn out to be stagnant. Maybe the character of 3 idiots (Dr. Viru Sahastrabuddhe) was true. Life is a race...If you don't have access to technology, you will be a broken ‘undaa’. It's not late yet. Authorities must take proper action against this as we should not forget the lines said by the most inspirational soul. Dr. A. P. J Abdul Kalam said, – “We should not give up and we should not allow the problems to defeat us."

Saritha Pillai, Assistant Professor, Mumbai University

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Jul 17, 2020