Is E-Learning The Future Even After Lockdown?

During the pandemic and the resulting lockdown schools and universities depended on online classes to avoid any breaks to learning. But can this also become the future?

(Representative Image/ Getty)

New Delhi: Due to the ongoing lockdown, all students have to depend on online classes provided by schools and colleges. According to an IANS report, the government and private education sector have a great responsibility to offer online e-Learning to more than 60 million college students and 1.5 billion school students worldwide. According to a report, in India, more than 32 crore students have been affected by the lockdown. While private colleges in India that were already offering online education for the last two decades now have a massive surge in e-Learning demand to meet. "e-Learning or online education is the new normal. In the future, we will see the proliferation of information technology tools and gadgets, post-COVID-19. But internet and broadband will remain an issue," said Professor NK Goyal, Vice Chairman, ITU APT India, and former adviser of Gujarat Technological University. According to Rajan S Mathews, DG, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), post-COVID-19, there will be a surge in online education by schools and colleges in the country. "The telecom industry is fully prepared with 99.9 percent network capacity. The telecom companies have taken appropriate measures to meet the surge in traffic due to online education and other online activities using telecom infrastructure," said Mathews. According to the 2017-’18 National Sample Survey report on education, only 24% of Indian households have an internet facility. While 66% of India’s population lives in villages, only a little over 15% of rural households have access to internet services. For urban households, the proportion is 42%. In fact, only 8% of all households with members aged between five and 24 have both a computer and an internet connection. So, while online classes can help students to continue learning during the COVID time, it is worth noting whether all the students are getting the opportunity or not. Teachers too have to face challenges while trying to put their course online, using mixed mediums and not just putting a recorded lecture to make a topic as clear as possible. Union Human Resources and Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank recently said that the government is offering a slew of educational applications and platforms for both school and higher education institutes. In addition to teachers, Nishank urged parents and students to make maximum use of online education to ensure their academic continuity is maintained.