We are living in the times where mobility is restricted and social distancing is thing. Some of the countries are still under the lockdown but here in Pakistan lockdown is eased with a lot of sectors working with the SOPs. Shops and malls are open and are running their businesses and packed with people, but schools, colleges and universities are still deserted and show no signs of reopening any time soon.
Critics are of the view return to normalcy is very speedy because the country is recorded more than 3,000 cases every day, after the month of Ramadan and Eid. While commercial activity is resuming across the country, there is still no clearness on the future of academic activity, as doubts continue to swirl over an expected resumption. Many fear that educational institutions may not reopen for another six months; this is particularly for the remote areas where SOPs cannot be followed properly because hygiene and social distancing rules are hard to implement.
In such uncertain circumstances, the need for online learning has become vital, when the Covid-19 school closure has severely affected education around the globe with millions of students forced to stay at home and wait for the pandemic to decide their future. Virtual education and e-learning universities were always considered of lesser quality as compared to classroom-taught education. However with the pandemic, both public and private educational institutions are forced to move their classes online. Although there are many people that are loving this new mode of education, there are many including students, that are not in the favor of the idea of digital learning. They are right in claiming that infrastructure, access to technology and connectivity is the real challenges in the way of digital learning. There are many students in Pakistan that don’t have access to all these.
It is very challenging to make online education work in a country where more than half of the population lacks basic resources of life; there are huge barriers to overcome. Most households in our country now have access to at least one smart phone, but for most students in low-income households, especially in rural areas, there are no internet facilities. Government action to make data plans available to low income households for educational purposes should be a priority. The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) has recently come up with a number of policies to overcome the academic deficit. These include the National Knowledge Bank and the Technical Support Committee to deal with hybrid mode learning. However it is unfortunate, except for a tele-school that was launched couple of months ago under the supervision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, there have not been any clear instructions issued by the government on how to fill the economic gap that has emerged while shifting to digital learning amid the COVID-19 crisis.
There should be consensus between the stakeholders. The equitable provision of technical resources, including computers, good quality internet facility and online teaching platforms to students and faculty of all institutions is imperative to ensure online learning. Now ball is the court of decision makers who need to think strategically and allocate and utilize the resources in a way that allows smaller institutes to utilize expertise from larger universities. This may include recording video or audio lectures and utilizing online meeting platforms collaboratively. The training and skills enhancement of the faculty is must as they are the ones to steer this online education. Otherwise, a small compromise or delay in education can put the future of generations at risk.
by: Abeer Arshad
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