When the student is ready, the teacher will appear!

PC THOMAS

In this age of rather pronounced nationalism, one may say that all cultural and value-based things originated from India. Teachers’ Day is one such exclusive example that it’s solemnly observed on September 5, the day Dr. S Radhakrishnan was born. A teacher par excellence, Dr.Radhakrishnan was a great thinker of India and an ideal teacher.  He encouraged education in letter and spirit. The teaching profession was his primary love and those who studied under him still remember with gratitude to his great qualities as a teacher.

Education is the single means for development in this world of breakneck competition, where teaching is a dignified profession which supports the backbone of leaning.  A teacher is an architect of a nation, or rather civilization. A philosopher said, everyone who remembers his own education remembers teachers, not methods and techniques. The love and reverence we provide our parents is habitual, but a teacher has to earn our love and esteem.

Unfortunately, on account of this Coronavirus pandemic, we have seen an enormous interruption in the typical arrangement of our teaching. Social relationships appear to be undergoing a quick changeover from a close-knit and interweaved social texture to a confined, divided and self-driven style of living.  Mutual relations are perpetually getting overpowered by the rampant use of social media and electronic devices leaving little degree for physical connections, sharing, mindful and complementary exchanges.

In this time of pandemic-driven social life, it is thoughtful upon the role of teachers in a world that is getting increasingly complex and capricious.  The schools are closed, no classes and physical activities can be held, and no tests masterminded. Alternatively, the teaching platform turned to be online, and students deplorably missed direct interaction with their teachers and fellow students. Zooming is the new catchphrase and remote classes are new normal. Dr.Radhakrishnan might not have imagined that such a thing would happen to the world.

According to Dr.Radhakrishnan, education should not merely give us some techniques so that we lead successful lives, but should also help us discover everlasting values. Therefore, be ready students! Let us follow the maxim: 'When the student is ready, the teacher will appear’, implying that when a student acknowledges that he is want of knowledge and desires to acquire it, he will open his mind to his teacher who is willing to give it.  The current pandemic crisis will go away. The new dawn will be coming, and all teachers will be ever-ready to enlighten students with new way of learning in letter and spirit. On this Teacher’s day, let us acknowledge, if knowledge is the LIGHT then teachers are the Guiding Stars that give us light. Happy Teacher’s Day! Read more of PC Thomas_article

Poor forced to sell resources to catch up with virtual education

PC  THOMAS

In bizarre news, a man of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh sold his cow, which was his single source of income, to buy a mobile phone so that his two children could get access to online classes. As the man, Kuldeep Singh, says that he approached many bankers and money-lenders, Blade Bankers to get a loan of Rs.6,000, but no one helped him because of his financial condition doesn’t attract bankers. On the other hand, people are now persistent with frequent unwanted calls from bankers asking that – do you want a quick loan with easy features?.

Bankers and lenders should extent support for those who are in need of little funds for their survival in this corona times, so that coronavirus will not laugh at you!. In a bid to help needy people affected in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, some state-owned lenders had announced special emergency loan products, but nothing for the poor and needy for their survival.

In this corona time, to keep their children from leaving school, many helpless parents may forced to sell their valuable resources, driving them further into poverty. In the event that Covid-19 and social distancing are digging in for the long haul for an indefinite time, it is also realistically sure that online edification is definitely not a temporary marvel. In this circumstance, the governments should wake up to the increasing want of access to resources vital for internetlearning.  It is high time governments understood the advantages of investing in human capital.  Cable-TV can also be explored as an alternative option for imparting guidance, as Kerala has now sought to do.

Online classes, being video content, require 4G-resistance, whereas data charges in India are low, most handsets being used by the Indian poor people are not 4G-savvy. India’s mobile broadband is tarnished for its deprived quality, particularly in rural areas.

Online instruction cannot ever match the class-room experience, but it can democratize access to learning in circumstances where schools, teachers and libraries are not enough.

This article published in Metro Vaartha on 28.7.20- Stay updated with the Best Blog PC Thomas

Major Challenges Facing Online Education Today

GREESHMATHOMAS

The crisis that Coronavirus created has led to major changes in the education system in many countries. The most significant move is the change of the traditional way of teaching in which students are taught in classrooms meeting teachers face-to-face. Although a lot has been discussed on the impact COVID-19 has had on the economy, employment, and the environment, how the pandemic is currently affecting different stakeholders of the education system and how they are responding to it, needs serious concern today.

While online classes are an effective substitute for the Covid situation, there is one major concern as to how effective the online education is going forward. Although the digital teaching system is considered a temporary one that will fade with the lifting of the lockdown, it is likely to become permanent in the future.

Accordingly, there is an expected change in the curriculum and time of learning in schools all over India. Union Human Resources Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal has lately said that he plans to reduce the syllabus and the schedule of classes in schools for the next academic year after consultations with the education secretaries. He has also sought comments and observations from teachers and experts in this regard. However, the central government is now considering opening schools in August or so and it is hoped that by that time the outbreak of covid-19 disease will be brought under control.

In the midst, a large number of wealthy parents are looking for ways to organize online learning for their children.  As a part of this, they are trying to secure those laptops and mobiles that are the best to suit their children’s needs. On the other side, we recently read the sad news from Kerala that a girl committed suicide due to a lack of access to online learning.  Our digital education system road ahead should not ignore the fact that many such poor students still exist in our country and do not have access to digital educational programmes for want of internet access. At the same time, the urgent need is also to consolidate the procurement of technical amenities for all to be intensified.

At least, every student must have access to high-speed internet even those who are living in isolated areas. For students who are not sufficiently equipped with basic technological tools and skills, watching pre-recorded or live online classes   will be baffling as well as frustrating for them.

The curriculum and learning platform must be designed in such a way that it does not adversely affect the quality of education from primary level to higher secondary level. Governments and educational thinkers must look at this need positively and scientifically.  

This Article published in Metro Vaartha on June 6, 2020