Much like water, education too is an elixir for a fruitful and happy life. To many, education is just an attainment of basic subject knowledge while some perceive it as an application of acquired subject knowledge. But there is a lot more to it. Education is some total of subject matter supplemented with knowledge, application, skills and techniques along with basic human values, ethics and cognizance for culture and respect for human behaviours. The advent of COVID-19 and the havoc wrecked by it upon human civilization has impelled upon us to notice and realize the changes taking place in the educational system of India.
Traditional educational system of India flourished under the GURUKUL system. The system that is believed to have existed even before the birth of Lord Rama. A child upon attaining a suitable age was sent to Gurukuls to gain an education in all walks of life from respective GURUS (today known as teacher/ mentor/ professor/ counsellor). He/ she was supposed to stay there until adolescence blossomed over them. Discipline, religion, rituals, science, history, mathematics, warfare, physical and spiritual education, etc. was imparted. It was a hostel cum academic life of older times. But the British rule of more than 200 years changed the system of education in India. This new system of education was what we today call as a modern system of education. The pros and cons of the modern and traditional Gurukul educational system is altogether a topic of different discourse which we will be taking up sometimes later.
What Britishers did to India is no less than what COVID-19 might do to India’s educational sector. The sector which frames the future not only of a child but also of his/ her family and society and ultimately that of India’s as well. What constituted this modern system of education and what changes may occur in the system as a consequence of CORONA is a matter of grave concern and speculation.
School is no lesser than a GOD’s place. It is a place where a child attains knowledge, develops his/ her personality, makes friends, learns different subjects and decides his/ her career path. It the best phase of our life, which is missed forever by us. The sweet little smiling faces, innocent hearts, ignorant minds pool in to learn the art of social interaction, make friends for life and realize the very fact that a teacher is no less than a God’s blessing. But COVID-19 has disrupted this symbiotic interaction in the social ecosystem of human civilization. As a result of lockdown, schools have been shut down and are likely to remain so for 2-3 months more to follow. Now the children need not wake up early to feel the thrill of going to school, share their lunch and create countless memories in classes and playgrounds. As a consequence of lockdown, teaching is taking place via video conferencing. A platform which is certainly not very healthy as far as personal touch between teachers and their students is concerned. It is altogether a new parallel system of online education that may emerge in times to come. We can further modernize and digitize the education and help keep students close to their families but this surely will not be as fruitful and enriching as is the current existing system. Moreover, a thought for those who can’t afford to pay for data packs/ smartphones/ laptops.
The coaching industry is sure to undergo a major transformation. Kota, Delhi and Kanpur are homes to some of the biggest coaching brands in India. Just a thought of it is enough to incite our imagination to draw a caricature of those setups. Big air-conditioned buildings, thronged by various posters, flexes, LED boards and flyers to attract more clientele. Regular classes in a big air-conditioned room crowded with students who are preparing for various exams like- NEET, IIT, GATE, CAT, UGC-NET, Civil Services and many other different competitive examinations. As an attempt to maintain appropriate social distancing there will be now a lesser number of students in a given classroom space. Will it be possible again to run classes as they were earlier used? Maybe no, thus, it will increase the demand for more physical space and teaching talents. Moreover, there is now an exponential rise in demand for online and or distance learning coaching facility. People want to distance themselves as much as possible from the crowd.
Online educational brands- Byjus, Unacademy, Toppr, Vedantu are seeing a silver lining for their business amidst the clouds of Corona stricken economy. Parents are also now no longer willing to send their children away from their homes. They will like to get their children tutored by best-certified faculty online after concluding their day at school. Students or aspirants also do not want to compromise their health which might jeopardize their hard work and chances of cracking the exams. Likewise, there will be a surge in demand for content creators, academic writers and subject matter experts.
Field of teaching and research which was once not received very well by many of the people is suddenly getting huge attention. With the global economic slowdown and job losses, an alternative form of employment generation i.e. online education is getting a major boost. Education is something which none of our parents would like to compromise with.
With the growing popularity of online education, it is quite possible that colleges may soon be allowed to launch a parallel online degree program for their already enrolled students. This will help students to master their parent subject as well a random subject of their interest in their free hours. University Grants Commission (UGC) of India has given its nod to steer the system in a similar direction.
Dimensions of education and means of imparting are changing very fast. This must not become an opportunity for commercialization of education which already is to a much larger extent. We must take into consideration the pros & cons of any modification which might culminate into a revolutionization in coming times as education is a critical domain. Any changes undertaken should be an attempt for equitable distribution of wealth, power and status in the society.
Another nice one brother. Good to see someone so knowledgeble in the family!!
Waiting for more content
Thank you Vakul for following up with the content
Although many states are planning to open the school in the coming month, we can’t be sure if the environment will still be the same.
Well written.
Yes Ayush, there are speculations that schools will be re-opened with 30% attendance
So it will be interesting to watch who will get the privilege to attend and who will get to study from home