Online school from home-a top talked topic worldwide especially at homes of school going children.. When schools decided to roll out online classes from home after few weeks of lockdown, I was little skeptical on its modality, practicality, etc. I guess even schools were not much prepared or were thorough about this mode of education. It’s obvious for all of us to be in the state of dilemma as the entire concept emerged over a very short period of time just to manage the crisis. Considering the nature of the pandemic, there were so many uncertainties such as; when will the lockdown get over and its aftermath for uncertain period of time. At the same time there are other concerns about the students’ academic course coverage which might have led to conducting online school from home. I being receptive considered it as an opportunity for children to continue their studies from home. Since my husband was also managing his college students through online classes from home and was going quite effectively. From his experience, I was hopeful in a way and appreciated the fact that schools initiated the process of online courses on time.
My only concerns were on the management of logistics and resources to manage online classes from home. As long as resources are managed, all goes smoothly and I don’t have to rush for last minute – organizing things. Being a mother we tend to get stressed out for every little development that’s happening around with the children because it’s us who have to take care of most of the things at home. I wasn’t completely sure about the courses to go smoothly because of many limitations (internet, PCs, time management, etc) for most of the families in Nepal. Nevertheless, there were no choices either for the families who could afford to coping with the situation and have no room to expect much at this time of crisis instead of going with the flow.
After a week or so of online classes, I am personally satisfied for my child to an extent as my son is overwhelmed studying from home, excited receiving assignments, curios to learn and do assignments in laptop with the help of internet and parents. It’s obvious he is enjoying the new method of learning because he has all the resources at home that he needs to acquire knowledge and complete his assignments. For him it’s an exposure at the age of 8 – he is having hands-on experience on the computer, he is able to work online which he hasn’t done before , thus he seems to be enjoying while learning. Seeing him having fun while learning, I also liked the mode of education. After all, I am also a mother and seeing my child happy automatically brings smile on my face.. However, I discussed about the topic with one of my acquaintances then I realized the other side of the story as well. There is a saying that “Grass looks greener on the other side” and I began thinking about the remaining population who cannot afford the online classes from home. How stressful this must have been for them who do not have access to resources to manage online classes from home. Talking about resources it’s not only limited to internet and PCs, but it’s one person’s full time job and that person has to have knowledge about everything that is being taught/assigned in schools. Time management is another factor which plays a crucial role in this model, if in a house there is more than one child then it’s even more challenging to take care of children along with household chores and attend their online classes. I wonder how parents are managing, it is understandable there aren’t any choices either but seriously what makes me even more worried when I think about those children who neither have access to resources nor someone with the knowledge to guide them through.
If school has plans to revisit everything all over again once school resumes physically then it again has its own limitation of time and if they do not re-conduct these sessions/ activities that children have done online then those deprived students who were not able to attend online classes will suffer massively. It’s a complex situation but having said that we cannot even give up on our efforts. Here I see the role of various factors to bridge the gap amongst students of different level and background. In our country while there are majority of population who do not have access to basic resources, it is essential to find and explore other effective ways to fill these gaps by the schools such as conducting special classes over the weekends or arrangement of extra classes after school session, reducing the holidays, etc. After all, education must be uniform amongst and across the nation, leaving no one behind.
All our major decisions or steps are city centric, and that’s so insensitive for a country whose huge portion of population lies in rural areas. Not putting blame on anyone but blaming the situation and expecting to be handled considerably cause this time it’s about education and future of children.
Very well said and analysis the situtation being a mum of two I can easily relate your situtation and I think it’s everyone’s situtation.