Will lock-down usher dawn for online education in India?

With India getting into complete lockdown mode for three weeks till mid-April 2020, one of the biggest hits is the education sector. As CBSE and other state board exams for class 12 have postponed the remaining papers, children and parents are at their wits’ end not knowing what is in store for their children in the coming days.

The cascading effect is now on the preparation for JEE, NEET and other competitive examinations, which too have been postponed.

With classes for 10^th and 12^th already been started in many schools across the country, the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown have brought the entire education system in India to a grinding halt. Sensing the difficulties, the students are going to face in their preparations for the 2020-21 board exams, some schools have already started online classes for students in class 10 and 12 with the help of education software tools available on the internet. 

These education apps help teachers to connect with about 100 students at a time in a virtual classroom, (which can be interactive too), and can teach core subjects such as maths, physics, chemistry, computer science, biology, etc.

Seeing the sudden surge of demand for online classrooms, there have been a spurt in number of educational apps available online which can be downloaded on any smart phone, tablet or laptop. Of course, there is a price tag attached to it. But looking at the uncertainty involving reopening of schools in June, many schools in metros and smaller cities have made arrangements for teaching students online at convenient timings.

For example, a famous CBSE school in Chennai has asked its senior teachers to conduct online classes for students in class 10 and 12, so that students don’t miss much of the portion during the lock down period. One of the famous apps they use is Zoom.

Some of the other virtual classroom software providers include WebEx, Newrow Smart, Vedamo, BigBlueButton, LearnCube, Electa Live, Adobe Connect, WizIQ, Google hangouts and Edvance 360.

But what about the lower classes? For classes from pre-primary, primary to secondary classes till class 9 and class 11, the schools may not extend online classes for them as of now. Even if the school re-opens in the first week of June, it is possible for teachers to complete the portion for these classes before the annual exam in March 2021.

Will it be a new beginning for online education in India, which has been thus far overshadowed by classroom education method? Though there are several online players such as Byjus, Vedantu, Khan Academy, Unacademy, Edukart, Udemy, Shiksha, Toppr, Meritnation and Extramarks making their pitch for the last few years, they have not been able to penetrate the USD 100 billion education market in India.

With the lock down period coming as an opportunity to revive and reach millions of students for these virtual classroom service providers in India, will there be dawn for the online education in India? Only time will tell. 

COVID-19 infects world economy, will push India few years back!

With the Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the nation for the second time in a week locking down the entire nation for 21 days to control the possible spread of Coronavirus, India has joined many of its European counterparts in shutting down the entire nation fearing deadly virus and its devastating impact on its citizen.

Though India has not yet entered the third stage of the pandemic (thankfully), which is the community spreading stage, the measures such as restricting people to stay at home, will, to a great extent, help in containing the virus infecting millions of people in India.

With the country being the second most populous after China, the impact can be devastating and nothing can be said as of now whether the lock down will be effective in stopping the spread of virus and containing the causalities.

Like Italy, Iran, Spain and France, if there is a sudden spike of positive cases in India in the coming weeks, then the impact may be disastrous looking at the fragile, not-so-developed and overstretched healthcare system in India. Due to high population density in urban clusters and high number of uneducated rural households, the virus can infect millions within a few days. So, the lock-down can break the spreading chain.

But what happen after 21 days? If the travel restriction goes, people coming from outside can still infect people. Huge crowd can be seen in railway stations, bus terminus, temple festivals or social functions. Unless there some effective vaccine or cure is at sight, we can’t say for sure, whether the lock-down should be lifted after April 15.

Another important aspect is that, with offices and industries of non-essential goods closing the shutters around the country, the economy is the worst hit, and will take some years for India to come back to the present stage.

Stock market is bleeding, taking the cue from international markets and also domestic scenarios as thousands of crores have been vanished within a week. Rupee value too breached all time high making imports vulnerable. Several key industries have stopped production in their crucial third quarter of the fiscal.

Not only in India, entire world economy has been in jeopardy owing to the novel virus. As our prime minister stated in his address, if we don’t follow the government’s instruction to stay put at homes, our generation will be pushed back to 21 years and the impact will be devastating on several families.

For the world economy, it’s already been infected heavily by Coronavirus. It will surely take few years for the nations to come back to the stage where they are today, and India is not an exception to this situation.

So, without thinking about scientific aspects involved in social distancing to contain the virus, people should be indoors for some days, self-quarantining for the sake of their own health, elders and children in their families and also for the fellow countrymen. By doing this, we can win the race against the deadly virus which has threatened the very existence of humanity.