POTANCY AND WEAKNESS OF ONLINE CLASS DUE TO COVID-19 IN

EDUCATION SECTOR

Dambar Singh Khatri

dambar32khatri@gmail.com

Abstract:
Corona virus disease is an infectious disease which is spreading day by day. The whole

world is affected by this disease. These diseases not only cause the death of person but also

affected the education sector. Nepal is an under developing countries and have the limited

resources. Due to the effect of corona virus, the government of Nepal lockdown the schools and

universities nearly three month and still situation not under control. The current research is based

on the online survey method. It adopts non-randomized some closed ended and open ended

questionnaires. The purpose this research was to be to find out the condition of new teaching

practice through Zoom, Team or other application to fulfill the vacuum created by COVID-19

and different circumstances related about it. About 14 questions were made and 14 responses

collected from 25 randomly selected participants. A descriptive analysis was done. The result of

this research is very satisfactory and it can suggest some recommendations to improve the

education quality which is delivering from the online method.

Key words: corona virus, online class, new teaching practice

Introduction

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly

discovered coronavirus. 'CO' stands for corona, 'VI' for virus, and 'D' for disease.

Formerly, this disease was referred to as ‘2019 novel coronavirus’ or ‘2019-nCoV

(Bender, 2020). Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in
mammals and birds. In humans, these viruses cause respiratory tract infections that can

range from mild to lethal (Tyrrell DA, Fielder, M., 2002). Mayo clinic reported that it is

an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-

CoV-2). In March, 2020 world health organization (WHO) declared it pandemic disease.

It was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei, China. As of 1 July 2020,

more than 10.4 million cases have been reported across 188 countries and territories,

resulting in more than 510,000 deaths. More than 5.33 million people have recovered

(Hui DS, I Azhar E, Madani TA, Ntoumi F, Kock R, Dar O, et al., February 2020).

The pandemic spread of COVID-19, has significantly disrupted every aspects of

human life, including education. The alarming spread of the virus caused havoc in the

educational system forcing educational institutions to shut down (Dawadi, Giri, &

Simkhada, 2020). As the consequence of the lockdowns, schools and universities in

Nepal have been temporarily closed for nearly two months now. As of the second week

of May 2020, UNESCO (2020) estimates that nearly nine million (8,796,624)

students in Nepal are affected due to school/university closures in response to the

pandemic. Out of this number, 958, 127 (11%) are in pre-primary, 2,466,570 (28%) are in

primary, 3,463,763 (39%) are in secondary and 404,718 (5%) are in tertiary education.

Because of the compulsory closure of schools and universities for a considerable period

of time, the education system has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-

learning whereby teaching and learning is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms.

However, there are many challenges around equitable access to e-learning (Dawadi, Giri,

& Simkhada, 2020). It is estimated that only 56% people in Nepal have access to internet.

According to Pandit (2020), only 13 % schools might be able to run online classes.
 In Nepal school’s trend to deliver the education is formal type and students are

habituated for formal class only. It means they come to school regularly and attain class

as day time. Also universities courses also running formally. However schools and

universities have started online classes in their main stream courses by using Team,

Zoom or from TV, FM radio and print media. After the arrival of covid-19 the education

sector totally effected. Education institutions are closed and nation is on locked condition.

From 14 June, 2020 Nepal government partially opened the market, vehicle and

transportation but due the effect of covid-19 still school, college and universities are in

closed condition. The government has ruled out to start the alternative method of teaching

practice in school, college and in universities. These alternative methods are virtual

classes on TV, radio, online classes through Team, Zoom. Mostly many school practicing

the online classes using Zoom app. So, there is gradually increasing the use of ICT in the

sector of education due COVID-19. Based on the analysis of primary and secondary

sources/data and published news commentaries, this research analyze the current

situation and reflects on the nature of effect of the COVID-19 on the Nepalese school

education. It highlights some of the challenges for Nepal and offers some strategies to

combat the impacts of the pandemic.

Methodology

The current research is based on the online survey design. It adopts non-

randomized some closed ended and open ended questionnaires. In this study the I

randomly assigned the questions to the respondents to measure their opinion and views
about online classes. Some open ended and closed ended questions were prepared and

assigned to the respondents of different levels. This study is conducted among the

teachers of school, college and university. 25 respondents were randomly selected and 14

responses are collected. So, the respondent for this research were who are from different

parts of the country. They keep concern with education sector. Quantitative data are

collected from sample population through online goggle questionnaire, online survey

form and descriptive analysis of data was takes place subsequently.

Result and discussion

A total of 14 questions were made and 14 responses received from the goggle

survey form from 25 respondents. Out of these, 92.9 % are male and 7.1% are female.

The academic qualifications of these respondents have post graguates. Master degree

holders are 78.6%, bachelor level passed respondents are 14.3% and M.Phil holders are

7.1%. Maximum respondents are engaged in online classes. Their percentage is 78.6%.

Remaining percentage i.e. 14.3% not yet engaged in online class. But some are still

waiting for these opportunities and their percentage is 7.1%. Mostly the classes are run in

bachelor level. So, 50% teachers are involved in the bachelor level. 35.7% and 7.1% are

involved in secondary level and master level classes respectively. Among 14 respondents,

64.3% gave their view that it is suitable in college level but 28.6% keep their view that it

is also suitable in secondary level also. 7.1% thought that it is not suitable in any level.

In the context of Nepal, the cost price of internet is supposed to be very high and

respondents gave their view that it is highly costly which surrounds 71.4% and 14.3%

thought it is cheap and 14.3% thought it is not affordable to everyone. There are different
applications to run online classes. 42.9% use TEAM application where as 57.1% use the

ZOOM. The percentage of students present in online classes is above 75% of 42.9% of

respondents. Few respondents as 28.6 % have only 50 % of student attendants and same

28.6% percentages of teacher has 25% or above can attain their classes.

On the effectiveness of online classes, 64.3% respondents gave their view that it

is less effective than face to face classes. 28.6% are strongly agreed with it and 7.1 %

agreed that it is effective method for virtual classes. The device used during the online

classes mostly laptop and mobile. The laptop users are 85.7% and mobile users are

14.3%. In Nepal, online class faces the many constrains due to low income and poverty

of parents. So, 50% of respondents thought that it is a measure issue to conduct online

classes in Nepal. But 21.4% of respondent do not think it is measure issue.

In the question, can online class draw student’s bad cultural practice? In this

question most respondents gave nearly balanced view. Generally, 35.7% are strongly

disagreed with it. 35.7 are disagreed with it but 28.6% are agreed with it. Most of the

students are habituate in games. On these conditions, it is a question that can they

concentrate them on study or in online classes. In this question, 57.1% are agreed that

students have less focus on online classes. 14.3% are disagreeing with this view and

14.3% gave their view neutral. Also, 14.3% respondents strongly support that gaming

habit of children decreasing the interest on study. From the research following points are

summarized as follows:

- Online class is very costly.

- Maximum users follow the Zoom application.

- Online class is not becoming effective in Nepal.

- Most teachers use the laptop while taking the online class.

- To run online class in Nepal, it is a measure issue for all people.

- In school, students learn social and cultural habits. From online class, there is

no any effect on these habits.

- Due the presence of mobile and internet, children may busy on games rather

than study.

Fig: Chart showing the response of respondents.

Conclusion

It is not doubt that covid-19 greatly influence the education sector in Nepal. Not

only Nepal, whole world facing the same problem. Those countries which are developed

conditions, only 20% of education sector is affected while in the context of Nepal more

than 80% is affected (Graaf, 2020). So in the developing countries only 20% of children

are benefitted from online classes in compared to 80% in developed countries. The

education calendar is shifted and exams are postponed and not sure when they are

initiated. In these conditions, few new possibilities are to be seen as all the works are

done through the online method. Government of Nepal has given priorities on online

classes and has ruled out all local government to start teaching practice applying all

medium like Radio, TV, print medium and online medium. About 4 million population of

Nepal lies under secondary level education. Among them, 70% are of primary and lower
secondary. It reflects that huge population which is connected with school sector. Due the

effect of COVID-19, a fear is established that if contamination is increased that it can

spread gently and government cannot resists it. So, present situation is not suitable for

face to face class in school. From the research, it is shown that there different constrains

to run online class. The problems which come through the respondents are: electricity and

internet speed, online class is only possible with access of internet in rural areas, internet

problem, poverty, IT illiteracy, costly and less student participating percentage.

The first and foremost is interest and intensity of stake holders i.e. teachers,

parents, and students. Secondly the availability of ICT tools, skills and infrastructures.

The related problems are more challenging and this paradigm shift in teaching learning

activities may create problems. But it is also an opportunity to update the teacher. We

must be able to change according to situation in this post method pedagogic era.

Recommendation

Online teaching is a new practice in Nepal due to COVID-19 which makes unable

to take face to face class. This pandemic is not sure to stop instantly. So, we must remain

dependent on internet to deliver education to children. So to make it effective, there are

some recommendation which I put forth from my study-

Minimize the cost of internet.

Regular supply of electricity must enhance.

Training programme should be regulated before starting classes.

Parents should control their children from mobile games.

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