JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS

ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 11, 2020

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON EDUCATION SECTOR IN

INDIA
Prof. PriyankaPanditaKoul1, Prof. OmkarJagdish Bapat2
1
Assistant Professor, Sri Balaji University Pune„sBalaji Institute of Management and Human Resource
Development, Pune, (Maharashtra),India.
2
Assistant Professor, Sri Balaji University Pune„sBalaji Institute of Management and Human Resource
Development, Pune, (Maharashtra),India.
Email id: Pandita.Priyanka10@gmail.com1, omkr01@gmail.com2

Received: 14 March 2020 Revised and Accepted: 8 July 2020

ABSTRACT: Biggest public health risk, the world today facing is leading to biggest and fastest restructuration
or re orientation of the Indian education order. End of the month march 2020 recorded the spread of covid 19
pandemic to over 185 countries and resulted in closure of over 95 percent of all schools, colleges and
universities impacting close to approx. 350 million students. The spread of the epidemic was so speedy and
quick that there were hardly any plans for transition to online teaching or learning from higher education
systems offline classes and no one could anticipate the associated potential risks and opportunities that a sudden
change could bring in the sector. Entrance tests of several universities and many competitive examinations are
held in such a crucial period that is affecting education system badly. The intrusion in the education system due
to the incessant COVID-19 is a reminder that there is a prerequisite for revolution.
The semester exams scheduled in May, in universities across India, is now all set to be deferred indefinitely.
Academic eventschain and the academic calendars will be tempt fate if those are not completed in time. There is
a stern threat that this academic year will eventually be shifted by a few months all over IndiaIndeed, the
students in the final years of a course will suffer the most.

KEYWORDS; pandemic, higher education, academic year

I. INTRODUCTION:

The world is facing a crisis today due to the Coronavirus Covid 19 pandemic. Almost all nations have been
affected due to the direct and the indirect effects of the virus and lives of millions of people have been changed,
in many cases almost irrecoverably. The pandemic has had an impact on the education sector, as the primary
rolling stock of this sector - the student being forced to remain in their homes to spare the risk of possible
infection and death due to the virus, if the schools and colleges were to run during the pandemic. This has
caused almost all schools and colleges to reach out to the online route for running the day's scheduled classes
via webcams and smartphones. A further development has happened in the increasing popularity of pre-recorded
or on-demand access online courses made available by platforms such as Coursera, Unacademy and Udemy.
The creation of a new online route for delivery of course content will become more prominent in the post Covid
world as the survivors of the pandemic and the ones who have endured through the lock down may not be as
confident as they were, in the pre Covid world about sending their children and wards to schools and colleges,
and thus may motivate the schools and colleges to offer online based courses to cater to their needs. This will
create a new paradigm for teachers and professors as they will have to adapt to this changed situation to be more
congruent while delivering their lectures and course content through the online route.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW:

In order to understand the Impact of Covid19 on the education sector of India and the challenges and
opportunities that can be gained from it a search of literature was conducted to find useful information,
pertaining to the paper. The internet was used for acquiring useful research papers, having a connection with the
objectives of this paper, as accessing online databases kept in the institute was rendered impossible due to
closure of the institute due to the lock down. The internet (and Google Scholar) was used as a resource for
acquiring research papers having a connection with the objectives of this paper. Search keywords used for this
purpose were - Covid 19 pandemic, Corona virus, Wuhan Coronavirus, Effect of the pandemic on students,
teachers and institutions, Effect of the pandemic on educational policy decisions by the Government, Challenges
and opportunities presented by Covid 19, e-learning, online learning and distance learning solutions for delivery

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of education, possible difficulties in delivering educational content by the teacher, possible difficulties in
receiving and understanding the educational content delivered by the teacher, possible difficulties in conducting
exams via online route in a honest and fair way during the pandemic, a comparison between the School closures
ordered during quarantine caused by the Spanish Flu of 1919 and the present closures due to Covid 19 and so
on.

Being that e-learning and online learning as a whole did not exist during the year 1919 when quarantine, similar
to the present one we are experiencing was ordered in various countries in the world, due to the Spanish Flu, it
was difficult to identify papers that pinpointed an exact similarity between the current lockdown and the one in
1919. Therefore, to identify new challenges, the snowball method was used for searching and identification of
challenges in the current situation to acquire the research papers of interest.

Papers were discovered by searching, using the keywords and were then considered more in detail and the final
selection was made for the purpose of the literature review, based on these factors -

1) Identification of papers which were addressing and discussing the challenges, related to the primary
objective of this paper with a minor to less focus on reporting 'stories of success' relating to the
challenges.
2) Identification of papers that refrained from pursuing the institute (which wrote/commissioned the
paper's own e-learning and online education products and services)
3) That the papers were not 'too technical' i.e. which described the primary content in a way that was not
easy for the layman to understand.4)
4) That the papers were relevant with reference to the primary objective of the paper and did not divert
the focus to matters not of concern to the primary objective.

The Covid 19 or Coronavirus has thrown the world into turmoil. Around 55 million people have been affected
because of it and around 3 million have died because of it. There was another case of a similar case of a global
level pandemic, in the year 1919 which generated statistics of a similar level as Covid 19. The cause of the then
pandemic in 1919 was caused by the Spanish Flu which spread like wild fire across the world. In addition to the
misery and death caused by the virus, the Colonial Governments of that era refused to do anything much about
the affected as the had declared it as a 'Non-notifiable disease' (Killingray David, 2003) The pandemic started
in March, 1918 and was traced to the Mid-western part of the United States and spread rapidly to Europe, Asia,
Northern Africa and proceeded westward, finally reaching Australia four months later. Observing the pattern of
the spread, it is possible that ships and other marine vessels could have been the vectors of this disease as trans-
oceanicaero plane transport did not exist back then, which was considered as one of the main reasons for the
rapid spread of the Covid 19 virus across the world. A second outbreak of the pandemic was traced to France
and it raged until the year 1919. The number of deaths caused by the virus ran into millions with many reports
estimating a figure above 50 million deaths around the world, surpassing the toll of the First World War. In
comparison, the death toll caused by Covid 19 is many times lesser than this figure.

In the wake of the virus it was considered dangerous for schools, restaurants, meeting halls, cinemas, theaters
and other places with heavy human presence to stay open and thus a general quaranting order was enforced in
cities and towns in the affected countries. Schools were closed and children were asked to stay in their homes,
for their health. This was observed in the then United States for the greater health of the children (Alexandra M.
Stern, Martin S. Cetron and Howard Markel 2009). However, there was much resistance against the
enforcement of quarantine in many cities, particularly in the case of New York City wherein attempts to prevent
gathering of people in large numbers ran into resistance from the local populace and many businesses and
establishments refused to close down their doors. (Nancy Tomes, PhD, 2010). It is clear that the behavior that is
generally observed today - people refusing to obey social distancing norms, people refusing to wear
masks/protective equipment, etc is not new as it was seen then and is being seen now.

Children, particularly between the ages of 05 to 15 were the most affected due to the virus. The high mortality
of children and young adults during the period of the virus was said to have been caused by the induction of an
aberrant, dysregulated pro-inflammatory response based on experiments with models using samples of the 1918
influenza virus. It was observed that the virus caused severe damage to the lungs of the victims, playing a role in
their deaths. This makes the case for enforcement of quarantine and school closures during the then year a
serious one. (Kirsty R. Short, Katherine Kedzierska, Carolien E. Van de Sandt, 2018). A further estimate notes
the virus spanish influenza virus, that caused the global pandemic in the years 1918-19 were to reappear today,
it would cause a huge number of deaths, between 21 - 147 millions. It is important to note that the factors which
played a role in increasing the virus numbers to a Brobdgnagian figures in the then years (1918-19) were due to
an interplay of a high morbidity and mortality rates associated with the 1918 influenza pandemic resulted from a

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complex interplay between factors intrinsic to the 1918 virus itself and the factors that may cause such a number
of deaths, if due to the virus, if it were to make a comeback will be a bit different, but not dissimilar to the
factors causing the deaths due to the current Covid 19 virus. (Madhav, 2013).

Noting the seriousness of the Covid 19, Lock down was ordered in India under the provisions of the Epidemics
Diseases Act 1897 and the Disaster Management Act, 2005. All establishments wherein a large number of
human presence was ordinarily present – factories, offices, schools, colleges, universities, restaurants, theaters,
malls, shopping complexes, businesses and so on were ordered to be closed so that the cost of life could be
reduced as much as possible. Being that the months of March, April and May are crucial months in a student's
life as all exams upto SSC level are scheduled in these months, a decision was taken to cause for education
content to be delivered to the students, via the online route. In this connection, the Govt of India has made
available online courses and MOOC courses for students and teachers so that they do not have to miss out on
their courses. Resources such as the DIKSHA portal containing video lectures, e-worksheets, e-textbooks and
assessments, e-Pathshala and the National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER) portal were
made available for students up to 01 to 12th standard in the country. In addition, SWAYAM a MOOC database
of 1900 courses was made available for interested students (University level and above) so that they may be able
to enhance their skill level, while at home. Further, the existing network of SWAYAM PRABHA, A network of
32 DTH channels was made available on all leading DTH Platforms (TataSKY, Dish TV etc.) (World Bank).

There is a paucity in research, specifically addressing the question as 'how was education delivered to school
children, during school closures caused due to the 1918-19 pandemic' as almost all papers that were found in the
search were only discussing the beneficial and the related effects of school closures as a way and means for
reducing the death toll of the pandemic. The only reference, relating to actual delivery of education was found in
a web article 'How the telephone failed its big test during 1918‟s Spanish flu pandemic', (Fast company) wherein
it was mentioned by the author that the telephone was used as a tool for delivering educational content to school
children, whose family had had access to the device for catching up with their lessons by the teachers who used
the telecommunication device to communicate to the students, so that they would not miss out on their lessons
during the pandemic, in a sort of primitive version of e-learning solutions and content, available today.

It is to be noted that e-learning access levels are not 'uniformly' distributed throughout the country as majority of
the colleges, schools, institutes and universities in the country prefer physical classes instead of digital ones and
few institutes have made use of the technology for the benefit of their students.

The history of e-learning in India can be traced back to the early 90s. There were not many players in the newly
created market then and the startups in the field in the then years started developing e-learning products and
solutions for the foreign market, as the domestic market was in the infancy back then. The startups in the then
area developed and delivered e-learning products related to educational content based on the curricula provided
by foreign institutions, employee training programs and other e based employee development and professional
development program for corporate clients, banks and for professional development institutes. ICICI Bank, Tata
Steel were one of the key clients who played a major role in the development of the industry from its infancy.
The Symbiosis College in Pune (Now Symbiosis University Pune) was one of the earliest players in this field,
particularly from the academic perspective. A Tata Group Company, the Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) was the
first organization of its kind in India which started the e-learning product and services initiative in India in the
then years, since its inception in the year 1990. The market for Information and Communication Technology
products is estimated at 266 million USD for private schools and 740 million USD for govt schools in the
country. It is estimated that the market will grow at a Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13 percent in
the years 2016 - 2020. (Roy, Shirshendu, 2020).

The Govt of India has played a major role in the development of e-learning in India and the DeITY (Department
of Electronics and Information Technology) is developing tools and technologies for promotion of e-learning by
supporting Research and Development projects at various academic and educational institutes revolving around
content development, R&D technology initiatives, human resource development projects and faculty training
initiatives to improve literacy through distance education in order to improve general literacy and education
levels in the country. 17000 crore Rs has been allocated for this purpose in the FY Year 2017-18 by the Govt of
India for boosting the Skill India Mission. This investment has had a beneficial effect for the domestic and
foreign product and services providers in the e-learning market in the country. (Arnab Kundu, Dr. Kedar Nath
Dey, 2018)

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Difficulties and challenges;

However, there are difficulties and challenges to be faced in the brave new world of e-learning, and the
challenges have become more important due to the enforcement of lock down.

(Nurul Islam, Martin D. Beer and Frances Slack, 2015) have identified five major challenges in e-learning
experienced by students and teachers. They are -

1. Learning Style and Cultural Challenges

2. Pedagogical E-learning Challenges

3. Technological Challenges

4. Technical Training Challenges

5. Time Management Challenges

Learning Style and Cultural Challenges

e-learning is very different from the ordinary classroom style teacher student learning environment as the
mephasis here, is to motivate the student to learn by himself using provided resources and study materials via
the online route by the e-learning product provider in contrast to the classroom environment where the teacher
motivates the student to learn using the available material. 'Gnothi Seauton' or 'know thyself' is the watch word
of e-learning as the best teacher a student can have is himself. It is to be noted that the self-learning style is not
absolutely perfect as there is ground for 'false positives' i.e., the student may assume that the information he is
studying is the correct one, even if the information is wrong as there is no one around him to verify the
correctness of the information. Further, there might be an issue of 'pace' as students do not learn on a uniform
rate as some students may be fast learners while some may be slow. This issue can be solved by assigning a
teacher on an 'on demand' basis so that the student will be able to develop a strong core by getting his doubts
and issues solved, in case he is unable to solve them via the online route.

Pedagogical E-learning Challenges

In the e-learning environment, in the absence of the learning level, understanding level, memory retention and
recall level and other measurable factors relating to delivery and receipt of education, development of courses
will be difficult as the course designer needs to be aware about the 'end customer' so that he or she can tailor the
course content, exactly as per the students' needs. Academics who design or advise on the designing of the
content need to update themselves about the latest technological developments in the field of Information and
Communications Technology so that they will be able to deliver useful content to the students, enabling them to
prevent their time and resources to be wasted in delivering walls of texts that will not be liked by the students. A
further benefit can be gained by enabling a feedback/control mechanism in the e-learning content so that the
person deputed to listen to the queries/doubts/complaints of the students regarding the content can be forwarded
to the product developers so that the issues can be solved, with beneficial results for the students.

Technological Challenges

One of the problems that were discovered with the introduction of e-learning products and system was
technological issues relating to the products. Various products have their own benefits/drawbacks, making the
choice of a products which satisfies all parties a difficult one. For example 'Blackboard' a popular e-learning
product is limited to its environment. In other words, it is restricted to discussions, updates, information updates,
notices and other messages from a single vendor only and restricts student engagement due to its unique
features, limiting the academic staff and the students to the borders of the environment. Many other products
have these kind of challenges related to manufacturer policies and other similar technological issues. This is a
major challenge in the adoption and the popularity of e-learning products.

Technical Training Challenges

Being that e-learning products are radically different than traditional methods of education, there will be a need
for prior instruction for the students and teachers who will be using the products. It is important for the teacher
to familiarize himself or herself with the product so that he can help his students in understanding the product
thoroughly, so that they can learn the most from it. This knowledge cannot be drilled into everyone easily as it

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involves different qualitative aspects unique to the person, which need the instructional disbursal for using the
product to be done in ways that take into account the differences inherent in the person so that he will be able to
understand how to use the product and how to teach the product, thereby gaining the maximum benefit from it.
A teacher who understands the product in a very good way will be able to perform as an 'one stop guy' for his
students as he will be the one, the students turn to, for settling their doubts, questions and queries about the
product.

Time Management Challenges

Managing time is one of the important challenges to be addressed to for making the most of e-learning products
and systems. It is to be noted that e-learning products are not limited to the general classroom hours (09 am to
05 pm) as a student can login and access the systems at any time in the day. Teachers are expected to be in
congruence with the student, when he or she has logged on to the system so that they may track his progress and
give advice/solutions for whatever problems and doubts he or she may have. In the absence of a defined usage
time, i.e. students are divided into batches based on the time slots decided for the product, a teacher will find it
difficult to match with his student, as he does not know, when the student will be using the system and there is
the possibility of a student trying to contact or get the attention of the teacher, at a time slot when the teacher is
offline from the system as he does not know, when the teacher will be using the system. Creation of a proper
batches for usage of the purpose by interaction with the students will be a way to solve this challenge.

Majority of the challenges experienced by students and teachers in the present, Covid 19 scenario are revolving
around the above listed challenges, in addition with other challenges related to the system – internet availability,
electricity availability, workload of the teacher and student etc.

Objectives of study:

1. To anticipate or find out the various potential threats and potential opportunities in education system
because of covid-19 pandemic in India.
2. To find out impact of covid-19 on students and teachers in India.
3. To find out the positive and negative impact of covid-19 on education sector in India.

Moderating Impact of Crises on Education / conceptual framework;

The process of addressing crises in the education sector seems periodic or repitive. India begin
“preparing”, a response in anticipation of a known or unknown catastrophe. When amidst the crisis,
they move to “coping” and thus, implementing measures to curtail the negative influence. This can
include familiarizingconventions for screenings in schools, rolling out sanitation practice campaigns,
imposing school closures, offering distance learning, using closed schools for emergency purposes, etc.
As the emergency phase dispels, communities move into a “recovery” mode and governments
implement policies and measures to recuperate lost time. The tactics may include regulations to the
academic calendar, prioritizing grades preparing for standard examinations, continuing with distance
learning in equivalent to schools, etc. A conceptual model or Cyclical Approach to education in
emergencies

FORMULATERECUPERATESURVIVE

FORMULATE

CONCEPTUAL
FRAMEWORK

SURVIVE RECUPERATE

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Commercialization of Education:

In the olden days, education was seen as a noble profession. Teachers commanded the same level of respect that
was generally given to the King and students strove hard to be accepted in the gurukuls and pathshalas of their
choice. The primary focus of education in the olden days (1) was more to do with leading an ideal life as an
householder by impartation of skills that were important in daily life. Specialized skills such as weapons
training, medicine, biology, chemistry and engineering were generally not made available easily to the then
general public as this was reserved for the ruling class (the King and his family), specialized officers and crucial
position holders in the society - doctors, architects, engineers etc. A good description of education in ancient
times is made available in the ancient epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Another good
description has been given in Kautilya's Arthashastra. Universities such as Takshashila, Nalanda, Valabhi,
Vikramshila and so on had made a name for themselves as institutions of excellence and repute in the then days.
There was a gradual transformation in the primary objective and purpose of education in India in the wake of the
islamic invasion of India (SEN.S.N 1988) as the focus of education came under the influence of Islam. A further
decline came in the years following the European influx into India with the maximum change brought by the
then British Government who transformed (2) the educational environment of India into one which suited their
profit making interest . Thomas Babington Macaulay has played a major role into this. In the days post the
independence of India, particularly after the LPG Reforms in 1991, education is being run more on a 'Profit and
Commercial' objective than as a basis for impartation of noble values to students for transforming their lives into
lives worth living. This has both positive and negative effects.

(BORGOHAIN SWAPNALI, 2016)has described the positive and negative effects of commercialization of
education. They are as follows:

Positive effects –

1) Creation of a higher amount of trained and educated individuals who can be expected to pursue jobs and
careers in the country.

2) Economic development of the country by the efforts of the above.

3) Commercialization of education has provided an opportunity for students to become more aware about the
developments taking place in the world around them, enabling them to access and gain from opportunities for
increasing their competitive advantage.

4) Personal development has been enabled by commercialization of education as students have realized that
they need to make themselves more congruent towards the expectations of the market and the companies they
seek to work in, in the future so that they will be able to gain an edge over their competitors in the process for
securing a job.

5) Increase in the quality of the students - Commercialization of education has caused the students to
recognize themselves as potential job holders of the future and this has motivated them to push themselves
farther so that they will be able to increase the quality level of what they can deliver, while applying for a new
job so that they can gain an edge over the competition.

6) Creation of new jobs - The establishment of various new schools, colleges and private universities has
provided job opportunities in the academic sector and the academic ancillary sectors.

7)Social development - Commercialization of education has provided a steroid boost for the social
development of a country as the many million students who have received education will influence a new
change in the society in the country.

8)Professional development of teachers and educators - Being that commercial education is a demanding
entity, it is expected from the teachers and educators to be in congruence with the levels of perfection and
excellence demanded by this sector as the expectations from the parents and guardians about the futures of their
children and wards are directed towards the teacher who has to work towards the transformation of these dreams
into reality so that he will be able to transform the students into industry ready professionals of the future.

9) Creation of new avenues for future by transformation of the students into industry and market ready
professionals by means of professional and vocational development of the students into a holistic way enabling
them to discover new ways and methods for achieving their desires into reality in the future.

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Negative effects: 1) Higher emphasis on the end result than the process - Commercialization of education has
caused students, institutes, parents and guardians alike to measure the 'quality' of the student's education in
proportion with the amount of marks he or she gets in the end exam. This emphasis on marks is promoting 'rote
learning' which does little to make the students actually understand why he or she is studying the content matter.
Further, the student just crams information into his head and vomits it out on the exam paper cannot find
employment easily as he or she is not considered as 'employable'.

2) Causing a measurable decline of quality in education, a fact that can be measured with the strong absence of
Indian institutions on any globally ranked scale of educational institutions (3) on the scale of end quality of the
education delivered in the institutions. Another example can be cited for this is the very low number of patents
(4) approved and granted in India to indian universities.

3) Emphasis on profit: Commercialized educational institutions are run on a profit basis (5) by making full use
of the various loop holes in the laws relating to and regulating education in India. Full use is made of the student
and the parent as a captive resource for generating more money for the institutions.

4) Impact of cost: Being that the emphasis is on profit, the impact of education on the student and his
parent/guardian is very high. Maximum effort is made by the institutions to generate money on a going basis
from the students and his parents/guardians in various names and forms such as fees, donations etc. A student is
seen more as a customer than a individual.

5) Creation of materialistic mindset - A student if he or she recieves education in an environment of

commercialized education, the mindset of generation of money by any means necessary, fair and foul is
drummed into him in an indirect basis. This results in the creation of a materialistic mindset which might not be
good for the society and the nation as the individual becomes more self-centered and becomes willing to bend if
not break the law if he can make a profit.

6) Impact on teachers: Commercialization of education has a heavy impact on the teachers and educators as the
institutes in a bid to save money, make them perform tasks more and beyond their primary job description
(teaching to students) without paying them more money for this. Excuses such as Job Enrichment may be cited
to justify the above. The salaries paid to teachers may not be at par with Govt run universities and controlled
educational institutions as Educationists running these (commercialized) institutions seem to be more at home
with David Ricardo's theory of wages, when it comes to setting salary levels for their teachers and professors
which has a direct impact on their economic condition and an indirect impact on their family/personal life.

7) Impact on students: Students in commercialized educational institutions are often forced to join tuition classes
offered by their teachers outside the routine class hours in the institute. This increases the burden of work on the
students. In addition, many students are required to purchase uniforms, stationary, notebooks from institution
approved sellers who may charge higher rate for the products than the market.

8) Impact on the country - Commercialization of education is not good for a country in the long run as the best
individuals become motivated to leave the country for better opportunities in other lands, creating brain drain
due to lack of viable job/career opportunities.

Impact of Covid 19 on the education sector of India;

As of date 25 May 2020, Coronavirus or COVID 19 has affected 5,513,369 individuals on a global basis with
around 3,46,000 deaths (6). With reference to India, cases of the virus are rising rapidly with the current figure
being 139049, with active cases numbering 77,304, recovered cases numbering 57721 and around 4024 deaths.
Noting the seriousness of the situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared the invocation of a complete
lock down in the country under the provisions of Section 6(2)(i) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The
lock down is in force since date 24 March 2020. Lock down has been enforced by the Central and State
Governments under the provisions of Section 02 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 in addition to the prior
mentioned Act. The enforcement of Lock Down has caused companies and workplaces all around the country to
temporarily shut down their registered and branch/representative premises, causing employees to work from
home. 32 crore and more students (7) have been affected because of the virus and the lock down in India.
Amongst this number, 13 crore students range from those studying in classes 09 to 12 (SSC level and Pre-
University level) have been most affected by the lock down as these four classes are considered as 'very crucial'
causing majority of the State school education and pre-university education boards and agencies to order the
institutes to make arrangements for online means for impartation of regularly scheduled classes to their students
so that they do not have to suffer loss in education due to the lockdown. According to the lock down order,

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schools and colleges will remain closed until the end of May 2020 (depending on whether the lockdown ceases
from this date or is extended).

It can be stated that the lockdown, caused by COVID 19 has had a measurable impact on the commercialized
educational institutions as due to the nature of their business, a loss of revenue stream in form of students may
not be good for them and has caused a reduction in the revenue streams. However, the advent of e-learning via
apps, college owned learning portals, collaborations with MOOC and Online course providers can be used as a
way to make up for the loss of revenue, caused by the lockdown (8).

Impact of COVID 19 on the teachers and the students,

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many schools, colleges and universities have asked their teachers and
professors to make use of online learning methods and tools - Google Video, Skype, Zoom, Facebook live,
YouTube etc. to deliver lectures and complete the course content. It cannot be said with certain that all teachers
are familiar with this new paradigm and many teachers are doing their best to complete the syllabus allotted to
them through all available means at their disposal (8). However, there have been a few difficulties as the sudden
change from classroom to the smartphone/computer has had its fallout as no one has a clear idea, as to exactly
how to go ahead with this new paradigm, regarding impartation of teaching through the online mode. Further,
the pressure on the teachers and students is high as the course has to be completed before examinations, which
will be scheduled through the online route, via secured means or after the lock down is lifted. It can be said with
certainty that the current batch of students will be the 'experiment batch' as the success/failure of teaching via
online means will be analyzed and interpreted to create a new framework policies and operational policies
regarding online education in the future.

Teaching via the online mode has become an accepted reality in the current Corona virus pandemic. However,
the necessary groundwork which will support online teaching has not been made available in proper terms and
thus, it could be stated that the current batch might suffer due to the difficulties in adjusting to the new situation
of online learning(8). Further, online mode of receipt/delivery of education has not been developed on an
uniform basis, throughout the country in all schools, colleges and universities. There have been avenues created
for this purpose such as the DD Network of Educational channels, Online learning platforms such as
SWAYAM, etc. However, until now they were seen as an aid to delivery of education and not as a main tool of
delivery of education. A teacher's live presence in the classroom is seen as ideal as there is constant
receipt/delivery of feedback of the content that is being taught and difficult. The teacher does not find it difficult
to gauge whether the student has understood what has been taught as the body language of the student is the best
judge for this question. This is difficult to transition from the offline classroom to the online classroom as the
level of quality, with reference to delivery and receipt of the course content is dependent on the quality of the
internet connection, the nature of the recording device being used to record the lecture (dedicated video camera,
web camera, smartphone camera, etc.), audio recording media – (dedicated microphone with USB
mixer/processing interface, in-built microphone in smartphone etc.). It cannot be said with guarantee that all the
students and the teacher in the class is in possession of a good to very good level internet connection as very few
students and teachers having the resources or the will to install a broadband cable or optical fiber cable based
internet resource. Further, in a few areas of the country, particularly in case of the Union Territories of Jammu
and Kashmir and Ladakh, internet connectivity is often disabled, due to national security and intelligence denial
reasons for neutralization of territories, enemy agents and other insurgents. Due to this, it may not be possible to
deliver education to the students in such areas via the online route.

It may be possible to make use of the radio (AM and FM) in these unique situations, but General radio
transmissions through radio stations may not be able to cover the entire course curriculum. Further, due to the
nature of radio, verification of whether the content was actually understood or not by the students is not possible
as transistor radios do not possess the ability to talk back to the radio station. This is more in the realm of HAM
Radio sets(9), but very, very few institutes, students or teachers are in possession of the license to use this
equipment and the equipment itself. Being that the northern most part of India is a sensitive area, a 'radio
silence' order can be enforced by order of the Army Officers in Command of the sub-divisions of the Union
Territories or by the Union Territory Administration, rendering the usage of such devices as moot.

The usage of general radio as a method for delivering course content can be used with great effects in normal
areas and verification of whether the course content was actually understood or not can be done via making
telephone calls to a few randomly selected students. The usage of HAM Radio is best in this situation as it can
be used to directly communicate with the students by the teachers as it offers the possibility of direct feedback
verification as a HAM Radio, unlike an ordinary transistor can both transmit and receive messages over the
radio waves.

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Possible difficulties and opportunities that can be experienced in this new paradigm:

Being that the COVID 19 pandemic is a situation, for which no one was prepared well in advance, one cannot
say that it will be easy to make a smooth transition from the offline class to the online one. A few difficulties
that can be experienced have been described here -

1) The Institution - India is a diverse country and there are visible differences in students in terms of
quality and quantity. Students can be identified across a variety of parameters such as - region, religion,
language, caste, gender, identity, area of origin etc. Being that the major portion of this pandemic
reared its ugly head since the month of March, a huge number of students (out of station students) who
had gone to their homes, due to the mid-semester break are forced to remain there due to the
declaration and enforcement of lock down(8). Being that the students, generally do not carry the entire
whole of their notes and study material to their home, they are facing a difficulty as they have to
complete their curriculum in the absence of their study material and have to make do with locally
procured materials of study. Further, it cannot be taken for granted that all the academic institutions in
the country have made arrangements for running of online classes (10) and thus, the students and
teachers are being forced to interact via laptops and smartphone interfaces, which are dependent on the
quality of the device, battery life and internet connectivity for delivery of the content. A few institutes
such as the Ashoka University in Haryana have weathered through this crisis without much difficulty
as they had made arrangement for delivery of course content via the online route much before the crisis
began. However, majority of the colleges, institutes and universities did not have this foresight as those
who did, did not face much crisis in these difficult times. Another reason might be that a few
institutions resisted making arrangement for online content delivery platforms, fearing the effects it
could have on the commercial nature of their institutions. The Govt of India has left no stone unturned
for enabling delivery of education and course content via the online route via initiatives such as e-PG
Pathshala, SWAYAM, NPTEL etc and have made use of the existing network of tele education
provision means such as the educational TV Channels being run by the IGNOU and other means
involving the private players such as Tata Sky, Dish TV and so on.

2) The Teacher: Teachers, generally teach before a live audience, that is the students. The active
presence of the student in the classroom where the class is being taught is one of the crucial factors in
assessing whether the content that was delivered by the teacher was understood or not. The teacher can
verify, whether the students have understood what was taught by asking questions, asking randomly
selected students to read certain passages narrated by the teacher or to solve a question on the board,
etc. The classroom, is kept free from disruptions and distractions in form of smart phones and idle talk,
depending on the persuasiveness power of the teacher to enforce the above. The emergency transition
from the offline route to the online one has its own share of unique challenges (11). A major challenge
is to keep the student in focus to receive the content and to provide feedback. Being that the student is
in his home environment, there is a lack of fear based respect for the teacher, which is usually observed
in case of classrooms. This is most common in case of students who are particularly naughty or are not
much interested in the class, who require correction by the teacher in form of scolding or sending the
student out of the class. This is not possible in case of online learning as the teacher cannot physically
enforce his presence in the student's home environment and there is no guaranteed means for the
teacher to verify whether the student is actually paying attention to his lecture or not before the
computer or smartphone. Another distraction is in the form of social media - Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, Telegram, Discord etc. as it cannot be said for certain that a student can resist falling prey to
the lures of this distraction and the teacher cannot stop the student from accessing social media as he is
in his own house and not in the classroom as the jurisdiction of the teacher stops at the classroom door
or at the gate of the school. Therefore, it is difficult for the teachers to actually ensure that the students
are indeed, studying seriously in their houses. Another difficulty is in the creation of online content.
Delivering lectures via online means is a totally different experience in comparison with the offline
means and many teachers may find difficulty in adjusting themselves to this new paradigm. Further, a
teacher is expected to use PowerPoint, tools for conversion of PPTs into videos, audio and video
editing software for making his or her videos, before making them available to the students. Many
teachers who may not be used to this new paradigm will find it difficult to deliver the content on time
to the students due to them being non familiar with the tools of online teaching. Further, the end result
of the content delivery via online route is dependent on the quality of the equipment used by the
teacher to record his or her videos and by the student to view the videos. Also, it cannot be taken for
granted that all the students are in possession of the necessary equipment - laptops, smartphones, good
internet connectivity, etc and there will be many students who will miss out on receiving education via

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the online route due to the absence of the above.

3) The Student: Students have to weather through a set of unique problems and challenges caused by the
Covid 19 pandemic (12). A student generally feels comfortable in a classroom as he is in the company
of his friends and peers. His presence in the group, 'hides' him from the teacher, like a tree in a forest as
until he does an act of mischief or misbehavior, he is not generally seen by the teacher. In case of
online education delivery, this is not possible as the camera has a clear view of the student which can
be seen by the teacher. This creates a sense of psychological isolation within the student as he is now a
tree in a desert, rather than a forest. Further, it has been observed that many students have complained
that the online education system has created a stressful environment for them in their homes as the
active observation of the teacher on the student, the workload to be completed from the home and the
absence of friends force them to study in an environment that is not conductive for them to study in
peace. The reason which can be said for the heavier workload is that, since the student is in his house,
he can be expected to cover more volume of the study material. A few smart students have made use of
technology to 'fool' the teacher by creating a virtual presence of themselves for the teacher by pre-
recording a few routine study patterns and response patterns and editing them using video and audio
editing software to make the virtual presence look more authentic to the teacher. Being that the teacher
is teaching in a stressful environment, caused due to the lockdown and the workload on his head, he
may not be able to recognize this trick and get fooled due to this 'Jugaad'. However, not everyone is as
smart or daring enough to resort to this method to fool the teacher and therefore, students are forced to
study in a stressful environment. In addition, a few students due to their economic or social condition
may not be in a state to afford internet enabled smartphones and computers. This has caused them to
miss out on the content being delivered to their friends, which may cause them to suffer during the
examinations.

4) Examinations at the end of the course: Being that Covid 19 has created a disruption in the routine,
ordinary lives of students, teachers and institutions, it is inevitable that the examination will have its
own share of challenges (8). A survey conducted in the Delhi University (14) has revealed that the
students have their own doubts and concerns about the examinations that will be conducted at the end
of the course, which will be held via the online mode throughout the country as declaration and
enforcement of lock down has made holding of examinations via the traditional pen-and-paper route,
impractical. On paper and in near sight, an online examination is a good solution towards the
assessment of the student's end quality at the end of the course. However, in reality it is not that much
easy to do so. The primary issue in holding of online examinations is - transparency and genuineness as
one cannot guarantee that all the students will give their exams, held through the online route, honestly.
Cheating is in the blood of Indians and there is enough evidence to support this, best one being the
images and videos being shared in social media about parents and guardians scaling the walls of
schools to help their children and wards to cheat in the examination in Bihar. A student is expected to
give his exam honestly, but a student who has lived through the 'vaastavata of life' will definetely cheat
(13) in his examination, if he gets an opportunity to do so as the heavy demand (huge number of
students) and limited supply (less amount of desirable higher education and job opportunities) will
motivate him to do so. Institutions are relying on the controlling influence of parents and the eye of the
Big Brother (webcam and cameras) on the students to ensure that the student is indeed, giving his exam
honestly. But this is not totally fool proof as due to the huge number of students in any given school
and college, it is not possible to proctor the exam with hundred percent accuracy as there will be blind
spots before the professor and teacher deputed for exam duty, caused by him trying to see at least a
hundred screens of students giving the exam. Also, it is possible that the students might do some
'jugaad' and place some cheat codes, chits and other unfair materials in his or her rooms, in the blind
spot area of the webcam deputed to observe the student giving the exam and some might intentionally
use the blind spot in a way that the camera cannot observe them reading from their chits and get good
marks, without much effort (on paper) from their part. There are other problems associated with online
exams such as - lack of guaranteed electricity and internet connectivity which may cause problems for
the student as the internet or the electricity might go down, just as he is about to submit his online exam
paper, causing him to suffer a loss of a year due to this gap. It may be possible that many a student will
commit suicide due to this. In addition to these problems, there is another issue of 'language gap' -
Many students in India face difficulty in English and since almost all online exam papers are written
and coded in English for the sake of uniformity and convenience, they may face difficulty in answering
the questions. A better option is to conduct the exam at a future date, within the schools and colleges,

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after the lockdown is lifted as this will give the schools and colleges the opportunity to conduct the
examination in a honest and proper way.

Opportunities to be gained from the pandemic;

It is said that light follows the dark like the day after the night and thus, there are a few
opportunities(15) that can be gained from the challenge of Covid 19 on the education sector in India.
They are:

1. Creation of a 'Blended Classroom': The Covid 19 has created a new opportunity for the 'Blended
classroom': A 'Blended classroom' is an environment where learning is done using both the offline and
online methods and techniques of teaching. The aptly named 'second wind' experienced by the online
learning platforms, portals, methods and techniques of delivery of lectures will create new
opportunities for the blended classroom as the learnings from the experience with online learning
during the pandemic can be subjected to further experimentation so that they can be incorporated in the
ordinary learning environment in the classroom, causing for the delivery of education to the students in
a more holistic and interesting way. The possibility of incorporation of augmented reality into the blend
can be expected in the future.
2. The role of the teacher will become more important: The role of a teacher will improve in the
future, due to their efforts to weather through the current crisis and not compromise on the expected
levels of quality and excellence, with reference to the delivery of education to the students. It is
possible that a 'personal bond' can be created within the teacher and the student due to the online
delivery of education, and that bond will enhance the learning experience of the student in the future
after the end of the Covid 19 pandemic.
3. Level of quality will increase in the educational content:The extra time available with the teacher
and the student due to the lock down, can cause for an increase in the overall quality of delivery of
educational content as teachers will utilize the opportunity afforded to them because of the lock down
to enhance their skills as educators. Also, they will be able to make maximum use of the tools of online
education for the benefit of the students so that they will be able to increase the end quality level of
education, from their side. On the side of the student, the online education system will increase his
ability to understand what is being taught to him and cause him to hone his studying skills in the future.
4. Creation of new portals for 'on-demand' delivery of educational content: The role of the online
portal for delivery of education will become more important in the post Covid 19 world, as new portals
for 'on-demand' delivery of educational content will be created and made available to the students. This
will benefit both the students and the service providers, creating a 'win-win' situation for both parties.
5. Time and place will no longer remain a hindrance in the delivery of education: The new paradigm
created by online learning opportunities in the current and post Covid 19 world, will remove the
hindrance of time and place, when it comes to delivery of education as teachers and students will be
able to interact with each other at any convenient time in the day through apps such as Google
Hangouts and Zoom, increasing the potential for delivering education at a higher quality level to the
student.

CONCLUSION:

The Coronavirus Covid 19 pandemic has had a very broad and measurable impact on life in general in the
world. Many countries have shut their doors and the doors of their citizens in the interest of safeguarding their
lives from this micro microscopic menace. The pandemic has had an impact on the education sector, which due
to the nature of the sector (commercialized), relies on the physical presence of the teacher and the students in the
schools, colleges and universities. The lockdown enforced to reduce the menace of the virus has had an effect on
this sector as students are being taught, via the online route by the teachers who are adjusting themselves to this
new paradigm. Issues relating to the changed situation, connectivity of internet and supply of electricity are a
few of the various challenges being experienced in this curent lockdown period. However, every cloud has a
silver lining and there are a few opportunities that can be gained from this new normal which can benefit the
student and the teacher in the long run.

REFERENCES:

[1] UGCNETPAPER1 Team, Institutions of Higher Learning And Education in Ancient India,
https://ugcnetpaper1.com/education-in-ancient-india/
[2] Byju's.com, Education System In India During British Rule

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[3] Eram Agha, After Indian Universities Score Low in Global Rankings, IIT Delhi Director Questions
Method, https://www.news18.com/news/india/after-indian-universities-score-low-in-global-rankings-
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[5] ShipraMakkarDevgun, Even If Educational Institutions Generate Profit - They Shall Not Become Profit
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[6] Worldometers.info, COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC,
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[7] Kritika Sharma, In India, over 32 crore students hit by Covid-19 as schools and colleges are shut:
UNESCO, https://theprint.in/india/education/in-india-over-32-crore-students-hit-by-covid-19-as-
schools-and-colleges-are-shut-unesco/402889/
[8] Maya John, FEARS AND FURIES OF ONLINE (MIS)EDUCATION – LOCKDOWN AND
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lockdown-and-beyond-maya-john/

Papers cited –

[1] David Killingray, The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-9and its Impact on the British Empire, Caribbean
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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26863641_Closing_The_Schools_Lessons_From_The_1918-
19_US_Influenza_Pandemic
[3] Kirsty R. Short, Katherine Kedzierska, Carolien E. Van de Sandt, Back to the Future: Lessons Learned
From the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, National Medical Library of Medicine, August 2018
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6187080/
[4] Nita Madhav, M.S.P.H, AIRCURRENTS: Modeling a Modern Day Spanish Flu Pandemic, Air
Worldwide, February 2013, https://www.air-worldwide.com/SiteAssets/Publications/AIR-
Currents/2013/Attachments/Modeling-a-Modern-Day-Spanish-Flu-Pandemic
[5] Shirshendu Roy, e-learning Scope and Trend in India,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338913710_e-learning_Scope_and_Trend_in_India
[6] Arnab Kundu, Dr. Kedar Nath Dey, A Contemporary Study on the Flourishing E-learning Scenarios in
India, IJCRT Journal, Volume 6, Issue 02, April 2018,
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learning_Scenarios_in_India
[7] Nurul Islam, Martin D. Beer and Frances Slack, E-Learning Challenges Faced by Academics in Higher
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September 2015,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281767697_ELearning_Challenges_Faced_by_Academics_in
_Higher_Education_A_Literature_Review

Web references -

[1] Harry McCracken, How the telephone failed its big test during 1918's Spanish flu pandemic,
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[2] The World Bank, How countries are using edtech (including online learning, radio, television, texting)
to support access to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic,
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/edutech/brief/how-countries-are-using-edtech-to-support-remote-
learning-during-the-covid-19-pandemic

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