BACKGROUND
School education has been jolted out of its conventional ways by an unprecedented disruption due to the Pandemic. The Government is yet to issue a timeline for the reopening of schools.
WHAT IS A VIRTUAL CLASSROOM?
A virtual classroom is an online learning environment that allows for live interaction between the tutor and the learners as they are participating in learning activities. In other words, the virtual classroom is a shared online space where the learners and the tutor work together simultaneously.
CHALLENGES OF VIRTUAL CLASSROOM
- Parents feels too pressed, having to support their children’s classes while working from home themselves.
- The physical classroom does not only impart the syllabus. Children are also socialised, and there is an element of sport and play which is absent in virtual learning.
- The matrix for socialisation is not replicated on an LCD screen.
- Poor are disconnected and irrespective of background, some children cannot relate to the online classroom, and many more are losing out on midday meals.
CONCLUSION
- The level of success, across classes and income levels, is determined by two axes – the ease of digital access and the ability of parents to support learning at home.
- If education remains online-only, millions could suffer a loss of opportunity, at the expense of future national productivity.
- The Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti has approached the Ministry of Human Resource Development, and other educational organisations await instructions from state governments. Schools may reopen in a staggered manner, with hygiene and distancing protocols in place, and induction should be contingent on testing.
