Educational institutions had to be closed globally due to COVID-19 outbreak. Students’
careers came to a halt making their lives uncertain.
The efforts of the governments and leaders to continue the functionality of institutions
through mass media is compensating the losses to a certain extent but it is unable to
restore the conventional classroom.
All the stake holders were adopting random methods to continue the institutions. They
are now working on working out on different strategies for the safe reopening.
Why is it Important to Re-open Schools?
Students come from different background and so are their educational needs. The conventional classroom used to fulfill all these needs irrespective of their backgrounds. This distinction is now clearly visible. The crisis had hit hard the deprived and the rural sectors
due to lack of high-quality technological reach. For many students, they don’t have access to
anything of quality and are at a great disadvantage. Clearly stated, those who are the most
economically challenged are the most vulnerable while those who are in good positions are
not losing much.
Arguably, this is something every educational institution should have implemented a long
ago, making sure each student has a device and good connection to remain connected
even when they are out of the school. Twenty-first century learning absolutely requires
technology enabled devices and good connectivity. We can’t leave this to chance or the
accident of birth.
In many countries where compulsory
education for child itself is a big challenge,
keeping them out of school will increase the chances of discontinuing education. This could take us back by a decade.