Resumption of physical classes: Risky choice for all
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: October 29, 2021 -

WHILE temporary closure of schools, colleges and coaching centres is the safest bet at this juncture to prevent aggravation of the Covid-19 pandemic situation, it needs no reminding that prolonged disruption caused to normal educational activities will definitely pose serious threat to upbringing of the children.

Across the world, outbreak of the novel coronavirus forced cessation of the conventional educational chores and compelled governments to adopt online classes to ensure continuity of learning for all, especially disadvantaged children and youth who are hardest hit by school closures.

Whether one like it or not, there were no option left other than adapting to the changes presented by the Covid crisis as could be comprehended from the staggered means of governance with government employees tasked to discharge their duties on rotational basis and notable change in the pattern of teaching the children.

Subsequent to gradual decline in the number of Covid cases but the threat far from being over, various livelihood activities are being allowed to resume and only education sector remains untouched as the authorities are fully aware that in case of surge of the infectious disease there would be outright backlash from different quarters and the government accused of being insensitive about safety of the students.

The existing threat perception is exactly the reason for the government of Manipur unable to decide when conduct of physical classes should resume consequently persisting with the online classes just to get students through the academic session and forcing parents to participate in home-schooling, often in subjects they themselves found it difficult to grasp during their heydays.

Compelled by the circumstances, schools have had to rely on technology like video conferencing to bring the personal experience to students and teachers had to supplement their daily assignment with follow-up phone and conference calls apart from innovating themselves to address special-needs students in way that is far from the ideal of what they really need.

In the state's context, helplessness of the government to take a call on reopening of the educational institutions could be assuaged from education minister S Rajen conceding that resumption of physical classes will be based on the decision of the Home Department.

Adverse impact of the pandemic on the education sector could be comprehended from the fact that barring 2-3 months of resumption of physical classes prior to onset of the second wave of the pandemic all the educational institutions had been remaining closed since April 2020.

Amid the unprecedented health crisis, students from class X to XII were promoted en-masse on the basis of marks secured inthe assessment tests that too conducted through the online mode.

Though the pandemic laid bare the fact that overhauling of the educational system was long overdue and the protracted disruption to normal chores definitely forced everybody to realise the importance of technology-based newer approaches for continuous education, proper education of all through the online mode is still not feasible as majority of the state's population is economically underprivileged.

Thus, even if the government decides to reopen educational institutions, it is the parents who will have to choose between fear of the contagion and future of their children for it is certain that unless the virus menace is completely eradicated there would be intermittent infection among the students and entire school or specific classroom may witness closure.