Zoom has become the new classroom. Google Hangout the playground and Microsoft Teams the blackboard. But are all stakeholders up to the game? The National Education Policy, with its vision for digital education, may be the answer.
No more early mornings, rushed breakfasts and hour-long commutes in a noisy bus to school. When Palak, a 14-year-old from Chandigarh, first got a message on her class WhatsApp group that her school was to start online classes, she was ecstatic. Now she could wake up at her own pace, log on to her iPad to mark attendance and even play music in the background during breaks. Also, if some classes bored her, she could easily turn off her camera and pretend there was a network issue and chat with her friends instead.
Her mother Jyoti Arora was equally pleased with the turn of events. She could have her morning tea without worrying about packing her daughter’s tiffin and at the same time monitor her child’s school activities sitting at home. A few hundred kilometres away, in a modest apartment in Kolkata, Sarbani Sen was reading to her daughter when she got an email notification. Her three-year-old daughter’s school was going to start online classes soon. Sen allowed herself a faint smile and hoped that while her daughter was busy with school, she could use the time to pick up more writing assignments.
On the other side of the spectrum, physics teacher Anita Rajagopalan (name changed on request) from Navi Mumbai spent a sleepless night before her first online class. Her biggest concern was how to navigate through the various applications on her laptop—a gadget she had only used for an email or two in the past. It was soon to become her teaching assistant. “My nervousness was worse than my first day as a teacher 23 years ago,” Rajagopalan says.
Her fears weren’t unwarranted. In the middle of her first class the next day, she got logged out accidentally and spent several anxious minutes figuring out how to get back on track. “There was the added embarrassment of struggling with technology in front of my students,” she says. A week into these classes, Rajagopalan was exhausted, angry and doubtful of her abilities as a teacher.
Four months down the line, things have changed for almost all the stakeholders. While Palak admits to missing her friends, teachers and even the “blackboard and chalk”, her mother misses her chirpy tales of school. Sen, on the other hand, has written to her daughter’s school urging them not to make online classes mandatory. “My daughter refuses to sit at one place. The harder I try, the more she resists,” she says. On her part, Sen religiously logs in during school hours and makes her daughter practice the concepts later in the day. For Rajagopalan, who has aced her tech skills, it’s the “eye-contact with my students” that she misses most.
The school, which was once a building buzzing with ideas, crowded playgrounds and stocked up library, is now a screen, unfamiliar in many ways and yet identical. “Initially, shifting an up and running school into an online space was a daunting task. Now teachers have unlearnt and re-learnt to adapt to the new world order. But we don’t know how far we have succeeded,” says Ameeta Mulla Wattal, principal, Springdales School, Pusa Road, Delhi. In a world ravaged by the pandemic, online learning has come as succour to traditional models of schooling.
According to a report released by KPMG India and Google in 2017, titled ‘Online Education in India: 2021’, the market for online education in the country is expected to reach $1.96 billion in 2021 from $247 million in 2016, eight times the growth. The report highlighted how an estimated 280 million students are expected to be in schools by 2021 with online primary and secondary supplemental education to be the dominant category of courses. It would have a 39 percent market share in 2021. The role of technology is not lost on anyone. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, approved by the Union Cabinet last month, has a vision for digital education. Under the policy, a new autonomous body—National Educational Technology Forum (NETF)—will be set up which will develop digital content for institutions and integrate technological advancements into classrooms.
Are we on our way to create the next-generation learners? “It was overdue,” says Meeta Sengupta, Delhi-based educationist. But she would have rather had online learning to be teacher-led than crisis-driven. “Then we would not have thought of this as a shock,” she adds. Undoubtedly, it came as a shock for many. Schools in the country, even the most sophisticated ones with tech-savvy teachers, have always relied on traditional methods of teaching. All of that went for a toss when the system moved to a space where the student-teacher relationship was at the mercy of an internet connection. “It’s not so simple and straightforward. The impact of this change will be huge and felt differently at many levels,” says Farishta Dastur Mukerji, a psychotherapist and school counsellor from Kolkata.
In most parts of the world, schools are unlikely to reopen this year. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has said that over 154 crore students around the world are affected due to the Covid-related school closures. It has suggested a six-point strategy that includes adopting distance learning practices to combat the problem.
As India enters into the last unlock mode on August 31, schools may reopen for senior students and in a staggered manner for middle school children thereafter. But are they prepared? “I will open the school if the government asks me to. But despite following the best of hygiene and health safety measures, can I guarantee that not even one student will contract Covid-19?” Wattal asks. “The ensuing dilemma of parents, students and schools has resulted in a situation where no one knows what is the best alternative available,” Mukerji says.
School in Limbo
In early March, Cherry Goyal, HoD-English, Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ School, Jaipur, read about how schools in Italy were shutting down due to the pandemic. She knew it was only a matter of time before India followed suit. Goyal started learning the finer nuances of technology. But many of her peers were woefully unprepared. “In the first week of April, we started our online classes. Several teachers, including me, had trouble figuring out the technicalities. But over a period of time, we attended several workshops and by July we were well-versed with all the aspects,” Goyal says. By July even extra-curricular activities had moved online. Parent-teacher meetings, yoga, physical education, recorded music lessons and even inter-school activities have been conducted from homes.
“I guess the only thing we have not been able to manage is the laboratory practical,” Rajagopalan says. Has the transition been easy? “It never was, and never will be,” says Sindhu Nair, a senior school maths teacher at Army School, Jaisalmer. Having the gadget was one issue, the other was availability of high-end technology to conduct classes. “Many of my colleagues upgraded their laptops or smartphones,” Nair says. Then there is student behaviour. Low attendance, late logging in or keeping cameras switched off citing network issues, lack of attention, abusive comments under anonymous handles are the most common issues faced by teachers.
“There is the added pressure of our own household chores, besides getting our kids to attend their online classes. All of this has made online teaching a dreaded activity,” Rajagopalan says. Moreover, experts maintain that if the curriculum is transferred straight from an offline mode to an online system, the static uploaded material fails to excite students. “In a classroom a teacher can encourage a disinterested student, but in an online mode, there are many names and few faces,” says Rajagopalan. She combines three sections into a single class.
“I have 120 students in a 40-minute session. How many of them do you think will clear their doubts and how many will I be able to clarify,” she asks. Examinations, a sacrosanct benchmark through which Indian kids are quantified, have been carried out by most schools. The formative assessment, which should ideally work in a digital pedagogy, is yet to be explored fully by schools. Instead, most have replicated the summative assessments online and handed out grades. “Our fear of change held us back, and we found ourselves unprepared.
The key issue was that teachers will replicate the classroom in online learning, but that does not work here,” Sengupta says. For instance, online schooling has failed to take off with young children and their parents. “I am so unsure of what to do. On one hand, I fear my daughter may lose interest if I press her to attend class. On the other, she might fall behind others,” Sen worries. The thought of cancelling her child’s school admission has also crossed her mind.
It’s a concern that finds resonance among many urban parents. “Several parents have reached out to me. Lack of interest in an online class is the primary concern. Then there are parents who judge the way a teacher is conducting a class,” says Neha Bansal, a holistic medicine practitioner and parent representative of nursery section in a prominent school in Gurugram. Parents have their reasons. They
are themselves struggling to cope with this new way of schooling while managing their own erratic work-from-home schedules.
The scenario encouraged Koala Preschool, a chain of 14 pre-schools in seven cities, to start one-on-one home classes. “Besides our regular hour-long online classes for two- to five-year-olds, we have started one-on-one offline classes that have found many takers,” says Alifiya Zavery, senior manager-academics, Koala Preschool, Bengaluru. The teacher, who offers home visits, wears a fitness band which shows the last three days’ body temperature. “Initially there were apprehensions from both teachers and parents. But we allayed their fears and now many have opted for this,” Zavery adds.
Digital Divide
All across the world, schools and students are involved in a vast cyber education experiment. Much as private schools struggled with setting up a platform for classes and deciding how to put extra-curricular activities online, for government schools and low-budget schools, it was a different battle. A majority of students had no personal gadgets, network was an issue and power at home was patchy. “In May, we started with classes on Zoom for Class X. Out of a batch of 20 students, only six could attend. Our teachers were equally ill-equipped,” says J Dhanamal, then headmistress (now retired), Chennai High School, Raja Annamalai Puram, Chennai.
The pandemic has put the spotlight on the deep digital divide that exists in the country. According to the National Sample Survey report 2017-18, only 42 percent of urban and 15 percent of rural households had internet access. Only eight percent of all households with members aged between five and 24 both have a computer and an internet connection. “Creating a digital highway, and access to devices is critical,” Sengupta says.
Under the NEP 2020, there are plans to bridge the divide through virtual labs that will equip schools digitally and allow them to reach disadvantaged groups. There are also suggestions on making e-content in regional languages for schools so that language barriers aren’t a hindrance to tech adoption.
Problems are aplenty for urban centres running schools for the lower-income group. Many parents have migrated back to their villages, fee is not being paid and staff salaries are overdue. “Even those with devices and internet connection are first-generation learners, with no one to help at home,” says Preethi S, managing director of Manasa Vidya Kendra, JP Nagar, Bengaluru.
The school has 650 students but only 10 have paid the fee so far. “We are struggling to pay our teachers. With mounting job losses many parents have already told me they will skip a year,” rues Preethi. His school prides itself in getting over 90 to 95 pass percentage in Secondary School Board Examinations. “Skipping a year means going back many steps because they have no one at home to help with learning,” he adds. When the school announced online classes for Class X only a handful showed interest. For younger classes, the school worked out a plan to send worksheets on WhatsApp but parents have been unresponsive. “I feel so dejected,” Preethi says.
In many states, classes are being held on Doordarshan channels. In places where television is a luxury, lessons are imparted through loudspeakers. In Bhatpal village in Chhattisgarh as well as in Nuh, Haryana, students are learning through loudspeakers put at strategic locations like a market, temple or mosque. Termed ‘mohalla paathshala’, it has gained prominence as students from a neighbourhood gather in one place, maintaining social distancing measures. In Begusarai in Bihar, many farmers have started a unique barter system to get their children educated.
They are hiring private tutors in exchange for wheat. “School dropouts are the biggest loss. The current scenario has increased the divide between the rich and the poor. We may have lost up to three years,” Sengupta laments. The struggle to get children into online learning mode continues. Last month, Delhi government distributed tablets to Class XI and XII students of Rakjiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya. “We have divided the school into three cohorts and drew out distinct strategies to support their education.
For KG till Class IX, we send out worksheets every day. Parents who are unable to access those worksheets are asked to collect it from the school once a week. For Classes X to XII, we have two live online classes of 45 minutes each. Teachers are also calling parents over phone to discuss their ward’s progress,” says Kadambari Lohiya, mentor teacher, Directorate of Education, Delhi.The gap in the education system hasn’t been more diverse. “If we don’t teach remotely, our students miss out on months of learning. If we do, a sizeable group of already disadvantaged students will be left out and fall even farther behind,” says a Delhi government school teacher on condition of anonymity.
Future Tense
Children need attention. They need physical space. In the universe of Zoom, what exactly are children missing? “Socialisation,” says Mukerji. Young children, like Sen’s daughter, who were to start formal school this year, are confined to the four walls of a house. “Through online schooling such kids will not learn how to get along with people and work with those who are not part of their family,” Mukerji adds. More screen time also means lack of physical activities leading to major health issues such as dry eyes, backache, and headache.
The crisis has highlighted the role schools play outside of education. “One of the trying aspects of the pandemic has been the small confined place where everyone has been living under the lockdown,” says GK Karanth, a Bengaluru-based sociologist. For adults in the house, who are coping with work from home, helping children with their Zoom classes hasn’t been anything but ‘frustrating’. To top it, the child is further looking for instant gratification because everything can now be ‘Googled’. Amrita Talwar, a publishing professional from Delhi, voiced her anguish on dealing with her son’s aggression on social media recently.
She tweeted how her sister took her young son to a physician post a panic attack. “My sister was told how post the pandemic, many parents are visiting the clinic complaining of anxiety and mood swings in their children. Even my 10-year-old son has become aggressive and stays irritable most of the time,” Talwar says. In a physical classroom, her son was an extrovert child, one who asked questions and fooled around with his friends. “Now I see him with a bored, blank expression staring onto his gadget while the class is on. He doesn’t want to engage and I am losing track of what is being taught in class. It’s all gone haywire,” she rues.
Sociologists worry that in an online space, learning deficit syndrome will be amplified. As the world of children and parents shrink, teachers will find it tough to handle anxious students. “A teacher can handle a class of 40 students if she is able to make eye-contact, engage with back-benchers, and control the distractions. You replicate the same classroom into an online space and the teacher fails in every aspect except for finishing the syllabus,” says Karanth.
There are several fears that remain unanswered in an online space. “How do we know how safe our children are online? Everything from maths classes to theatre classes, birthday parties to project discussions has moved to Zoom. How can I monitor it all? I am exhausted,” Arora says. It’s a dramatic change. Parents are trying to be teachers, counsellors and friends to their children. But is it working? “Not really! Work from home, job insecurities and lack of socialising are taking a toll,” Mukerji says.
Back to School
So far, the pandemic has allowed everyone to explore how significant school is in a physical space. And how human interactions are the core of any relationship and team building, picking up skills, confidence and more. With tech overshadowing human experiences, is it the future of schooling? According to the recommendations under NEP 2020, online education needs to be seen as an alternative mode of quality education whenever and wherever traditional modes are not possible. The NETF is required to oversee adoption of digital practices at all levels of education, including classroom methods and teachers’ professional development. Experts suggest technology to be an aid to schooling and not a substitute. “Definitely the post-pandemic school will be very different.
We may go into a hybrid model—part online, part offline,” says Wattal. Sengupta envisages a scenario where education will be more choice-driven with less compulsion to use physical infrastructure. “The ‘Hub and Spoke model’ will remain, but a lot more flexibility can easily be enabled for senior students. For the very young, again, less time, more connect,” she stresses. So when the storm settles, will schools be revolutionised by the online learning experience? Or will they get back to what comes easily to them? The fact is that there are no answers. Everything seems to be stuck in a twilight zone for now.
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