Covid-19 real nightmare for students

Problems Faced by the Students Due To COVID-19

We are living amidst what is potentially one of the greatest threats in our lifetime to global education, a gigantic educational crisis.

Every child in India wishes at some point that their school get shut for the foreseeable future and they get to laugh at home. Another wish that closely follows is that exams get delayed, or better yet, cancelled.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the authorities are forced to adapt to alternative ways of teaching the students while avoiding social contact. Hence the students have to sit at home while attending online classes while preparing for exams which have some impact on children and youth. Here are some of the most common challenges students are currently facing with online classes:

●      Lack of resources.

●      Technical issues.

●      Distractions and time management.

●      Staying motivated.

●      Understanding course expectations.

●      Lack of first-person interaction.

●      Adapting to sudden change in study environment.

●      Uncertainly about the future.

Lack of Resource.

Rich people are better prepared to move to online learning strategies, although with a lot of effort and challenges for teachers and parents. In middle-class and poorer class people, the situation is mixed and if we don’t act appropriately, the vast inequality of opportunities that exists-egregious and unacceptable to start with will be amplified. Many children don’t have books, desk, internet connectivity, smart phone, a laptop at home, or supportive parents. Others do. What we need to avoid or minimize as much as is for those difference in opportunities to expand and cause the crises to have an even larger negative effect on poor children’s learning.

Technically Issues

Unfortunately, experts say, technical issues are bonded to happen in an online environment only. Especially when we can’t trust Wi-Fi connections and computer security. While classes are about imparting knowledge, exams, especially in the context of Indian education, are about evaluation and competition. If the student haven’t been taught properly, the question of a formal evaluation should not even arise.

Distraction and Time Management

While studying from home or wherever students may be, there can be more distraction than usual, especially with family and possible younger siblings around you. As a result of their distraction and possible having additional responsibilities time management become more challenging.

Staying Motivated

Given that students may be not be attending class at a set of time on physical campus,finding the motivation to get started on coursework can be difficult, experts say. “When you don’t see your home as a space of work, it’s kind of a struggle to get in that mindset”, says Emily Effren, a senior Texas Tech University majoring in journalism as well as electronic media and communications.  

Understanding Course Expectations

The sudden switch to online learning has left some students confused about some courses requirements for the rest of the semester. They may wonder, for instance, if a final group presentation is still happening given that students can to longer meet on campus, or if they need to complete labs for science classes.

Students may also wonder whether their classes will have live lecture through vedio conferencing at a set time on a certain day, or whether students are expected to learn the material on their own time.

Lack of In-person Interaction

The lack of in-person interaction with both instructors and classmates can be particularly challenging. Before lockdown students used to clarify their doubts more effectively and they could talk to each other with their classmates. The adjustment can be particularly difficult for students taking classes that are better suited for the face-to-face format, like those with science lab components.

Adapting to sudden change in study environment.

 The students are used to sitting in classrooms where they are controlled by teachers and have peers to accompany them. But due to the lockdown held to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the students are forced to sit at home in their comfort zone feeling like a free bird. But the problem lies where they have to learn through online classes while balancing their household chores along with studies and being scared about the exams. Due to this pandemic, the authorities had to adapt to alternative measures to continue teaching students at home which has made the students struggle for the motivation to study.

Uncertain About the Future

 The sudden switch to online classes for the spring semester and the summer, in some cases has caused anxiety and raised questions among students about their academic futures. Some are considering takin the full semester off if their school continues to stick with online classes, for instance while others are concerned about upholding a full courses load while juggling family responsibilities at home.

Cancel exams in this time of pandemic

Most universities are still hell-bent on conducting exam even through there is no way to-do so. For India, that seems to be the only marker of education

This is not unsurprising through, as Indian education administrations are not known to be kind to their students. Everything from complicated procedures for the simple administrative work, uncooperative and glitchy websites serves, unpaid academic resources and inaccessible officials – it’s like the very institutional framework is erected to make life as difficult as possible for students.

You have to prove that you learned something of importance in the last four months that you sat in class. Of course, most students don’t actually sit in class and can easily pass these exams by cramming any guidebook. So, essentially, the very purpose of these exams is never fulfilled. Perhaps, all of this is still justifiable under normal circumstances.

But the current situation is far from normal. This is the one time these universities can afford to swivel away from the norm and take drastic measures. Measures like cancelling exams. It is not even that strange a recommendation. A friend studying in Hyderabad Central University shared that a committee of professors has suggested that exams should be cancelled and students should be awarded an average score based on their past performance. The committee also recommended that students should be given an option to sit for exams if they wish to improve their score.

If one university can do it, surely, it is not unprecedented to call for all universities to follow suit. They need to understand that it is absolutely unfair to ask students to sit for exams in the middle of a pandemic. Not only does the question of access arise but also about their psychological circumstances. How is one supposed to concentrate on studying for exams when all they hear are the number of lives this coronavirus has claimed. Moreover, some of these students or their family members could be infected by the virus, which just makes the situation more stressful for such people.








Image credits: Google