COVID-19 and its Impact on Students in Meghalaya: Myths & Reality
LETTERS | SHILLONG, May 1:
Who would have thought that the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic will have such an impact that creates havoc to the entire human activities and among these, education is one area which is badly affected.
The education of students at every level is one the strongest pillars in the making of a society or state or nation for future progress. When educational institutions in Meghalaya were close down on the 17th of March 2020, no one knew that the Coronavirus has its own plans that would last this long.
The motive of this shutdown by the Central Government was to firstly prevent the institutions and especially the students from becoming a prey to the virus and secondly to flatten the curve which at that point of time India had only 142 total COVID-19 positive cases.
Consequently, similar to the rest of the country, the educational scenario is undergoing a tremendous challenge in Meghalaya.
In the wake of the rising cases and the declaration of nationwide Lockdown, steps have been taken to cope with the changing atmosphere at all levels of academics i.e., from nursery to higher education. Some schools have come up with activities such as online classes and distribution of homework through their respective Whatsapp groups, projects, mails, chat rooms, etc. While at the degree level, some colleges and universities instructed their students to complete their assignments and submit to the teacher concerned through emails and Whatsapp.
The overall closure is a matter of concern since it is both a great loss to the students in particular and to the institutions in general.
However, it seems the balance is tilted more to one side. While institutions in urban areas have adopted the above means to continue imparting education, the schools and colleges in rural areas, having students from rural areas and belonging to lower income groups (without smart phones and other electronic gadgets) everything has came to a standstill.
The deprivation of the students of the rural areas can easily be felt and this is in the educational field and thus, future of the students, society and the state is at stake.
This divide is between the rich and middle classes residing in the urban areas and the commoners and poor peasants in the rural areas. For the latter group, buying smart phones, laptops or desktops is, at one hand, problematic and, on the other, is the poor supply of electricity and internet or voice connectivity. This is the classical case of "India" and "Bharat".
As far as internet connectivity is concerned, the State's Education Minister Mr.Lakmen Rymbui has recently acknowledged that ninety percent of the students from rural areas do not have access to internet which means online teaching are beneficial to the urbanites only. There are also parents who do not possess the knowledge to operate their phones and hence become a problem for them to see that their children have to cater to online teachings.
To add more problem to the situation are those families who have many children and whose parents are struggling to feed their children first and everything else comes later in this lockdown situation. Let us not forget that some families face so much financial crunches that the money they have earned or even getting from the scheme provided by the government are not enough to buy the essentials at home, let alone the electronic devises for study of their children.
In addition, degree students face problems of writing their assignments since most of the books are in the libraries of their colleges and universities. Some may opine that online and digital materials are available but this is not the case for all the subjects and disciplines.
The contention here is, do online learning a feasible step during this Pandemic? For those who feel that students cannot be allowed to spend a day idle without leaning, the answer may be yes. However, if we look at the problems mentioned above, we find the unequal distribution of a learning system where some who have the privileges to cater to the requirements of their institutions find it easy whereas for the rest, online learning is a myth; impossible to become a reality.
The problem is not the fault of either the parents or the students, but it was the educational system in our state that lacks the focus it deserves. Throughout the years, the government delayed or perhaps took no interest in the improvement and set up a common learning process digitally or online. The absence of computer knowledge and the negligence of computer facilities in the schools, colleges and even universities, as well as in localities both in urban and rural setup have now become a hindrance if this shutdown continues for a longer period.
It is even surprising that the idea of a 'Digital India' and crores of rupees that was sanctioned in its name is far from reality since there was little move to upgrade our computer system, knowledge or facilities.
The sad part is that some institutions have neither digital nor internet facilities while others have the speed at a snail's pace. If the government and the institutions themselves fall short on their part and had failed to pay attention about the importance of these facilities so far, it is surprising that online learning from home during this crisis was made compulsory by some institutions.
The present situation is an eye opener. Taking into consideration all aspects, we believe that 'classroom-learning' is a basic form of education and it shall soon see the light of day if proper steps are being taken in a right direction by the government along with the cooperation of the entire population in this fight against the virus.
Reflecting on another aspect, many parents have expressed the appreciation to the Khasi Students' Union (Central Body) after its intervention in the middle of April 2020 to reconsider the recruitment of National Service Scheme (NSS) students who have been directed by the Central and State Government to engage in voluntary duties which relate to COVID-19 management.
The unethical and unreasonable move shocked the parents who felt that it must be the primary concern of the governments to think about the safety and well being of the children (which in this case NSS volunteers) first. The parents further argued that they cannot understand the logic behind the decision to place the students at risk to involve in the forefront of the pandemic, and if there is no need for contact with the patients or hotspot areas, the 'Undertaking' which was asked to be signed clearly mentioned contrary to it.
Moreover without proper personal protective gears, the risk involved and the direction in the form of orders turn the NSS from a voluntary to a non-voluntary scheme. The parents further argued that if students are directed to be volunteers, then the motive behind the shutdown of educational institutions is just another myth.
In reality, the crux of the matter is that not all decisions taken by the government are right. Safety and security of the students, who are the stakeholders in most senses, should be the top priority in the present condition and the efforts should be made by various agencies of the Government of Meghalaya to bridge the educational gap between the urban and rural students, as a long term strategy.
