COVID-19 has changed our lives to a huge extent. The education sector – that is, our schools and colleges – have also been affected. Going to school for attending classes is a distant reality now. Online education is the “new normal”.

When the government of India first imposed lockdown, children where very happy and excited as lockdown mean no school – a sudden holiday for an indefinite period of time! Little did we know that the lockdown was going to change the whole way in which schools functioned.

While at one time, not very long ago, children were forbidden from using smartphones and laptops, these things soon became our windows to education. Classes resumed through video conferencing and lessons were taught through videos uploaded by teachers. Homework had to be mailed and study materials downloaded. Examinations became open book assignments!

The system had many boons. Technology helped us maintain social distancing. Reopening regular schools would mean the mixing of hundreds of children on a daily basis. One could not trust them with observing COVID-19 norms like always wearing masks, sanitizing hands from time to time, not mixing each other’s stationary etc. So through education we could keep the virus at bay!

But there were many downsides to this arrangement as well! Schooling imbibes in us a sense of discipline. It grooms us to become smart, educated individuals when we grow up. But online classes is not the same as schooling. Going to school means wearing a fresh uniform every day, meeting teachers and friends, interacting with them, outdoor activities etc. While online classes can spread knowledge, the system can’t groom or discipline children.

While a child cannot escape from paying attention in a regular class, in an online class it is not possible for the teacher to keep an eye on every student. Learning too suffered in this way. We can only hope that the pandemic would soon subside and thousands of children will get the opportunity to go back to school.

You can also read COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Essay in English