Indian Education System At The Time Of COVID 19 Pandemic Utkarsh Shukla Article Tue, Jun 16, 2020, at ,07:26 PM The current pandemic situation has affected our lives in various diverse domains. Each individual is looking at this situation very differently, some are exploring, some are depressed, and some are treating it as holiday and some as an opportunity. People are enjoying their hobbies, doing online courses, cooking, sleeping, and whatnot. Amidst these small escape from reality, there is a lot of chaos and uncertainty. So, there is no doubt that this new world has bought many negative as well as positive aspects with it. One of the major areas where it has impacted is the Education System. Indian Education System has always focused on theoretical aspects rather than the practical ones. Apart from some cities, the techniques are still backward and the assessment is memory-based. The subject matter is long and qualitative and many students lack practical skills which they require for their future careers. But, due to the pandemic, there are many unexpected and unwanted changes that are introduced in the education system. The government and educational boards are forced to incorporate new methods and techniques, which has created a lot of disturbances in both teachers and students. Positive Impact The biggest positive impact is the change in the assessment system. Earlier, the examinations were used to be completely memory-based 3 hours written test. Most of the students used to memorize the textbook information and just copy the same in the examination sheets. It did not matter whether they understood the topic or not. But now they are opening to modern methods of examinations and assessments like open-book examination. In the future life, people have all the books available with them, rather the skills are what they need. Students are provided assignments that require research skills and other new skills. These new examination methods are more object objective and less biased. The second point is the accessibility. Books are very expensive and might not be available all the time. But on the mobile, we can a thousand books at the same rate. This study material is more accessible to people and can replace books of thousands of rupees. Students can study a lot of material and lots of books on the same. Accessibility has not only improved in terms of resources but also distance. Now, you can study from teachers which you are very far from you through the online courses. A lot of students are doing webinars and online courses sitting at their homes comfortably. So, now the restrictions of distance and time are removed through the mobiles. There is also the environmental benefit of this education system. A lot of paper was used to make books and copies and paper to carry on examination. As the schools and colleges are switching to e-books and online examinations, the paper is preserved. This will lead to but less of the cutting of trees. Nearly 4 billion trees cut around the world are used in paper industries on every continent. That equates to about 2.47 million trees cut down every day. Negative Impact The first negative impact is that new education is based on technology and very much expensive. The education system has now become more and more dependent on modern technology and modern equipment. Students and teachers require proper internet connection, expensive devices like mobile and laptops, new software for acquiring education. Many people still can't afford this expensive equipment. So, education for them has become more stressful for poor people. Not only is this, in many places in northern India, but there are also electricity problems. Also, the excessive use of these devices has impacted the health of youth greatly. They are addicted to these devices. The study on mobile, play on mobile, watch movies on mobile as if their lives are limited to a device. They have disassociated themselves from the real world. There is also a negative effect on eyes and ears. Now, another point of concern is the accuracy of the study material which they study. Previously, the students used many books that were written by great writers and experts of the fields and published by famous publishers. It had accuracy in the information, but now, everything is available on the internet. Students prefer this easy source which does not have any reliability of the information. There is no segregation of false information and actual information. There are thousands of websites posting lots and lots of data and material some of which might not be correct. Teachers are also not very comfortable with the new method of teaching. Not all the teachers are used to the new technology. They are unable to share their knowledge properly. Some teachers prefer board and ancient methods which are now restricted. Subjects like mathematics and sciences need more interaction. There is a lack of interaction and nonverbal communication in the classroom. The lack of communication has decreased efficiency, especially towards weak students who need more attention. Those who are not interested can play games and can fool their parents. Earlier, the classroom setup used to make children more comfortable and provide an educational environment. The competition and other students encouraged weak students to work hard and to study. But now, it is not a group experience, rather more individualistic. Also, due to teachers’ discomfort with technology, the burden on students has increased to study on their own. They are also not able to interact with school counsellors for personal problems. The purpose of schools war not only to provide education but also other curricular activities like music, dance, and sports. Young students in schools used to interact with each other to play and for many other activities and which helped to build up their relation and resulted in their overall growth. But in this new situation, these activities are now limited, hindering the personality development. So, we can see that there are a various negative and positive impacts on the education system. What we can do is to embrace the new life and work accordingly.