Across the country higher education institutions have conducted online classes and even online exams for their students. Recall that hundreds of students from Goa who were studying elsewhere in the country returned to their homes in March, but their classes did not abruptly stop. They continued to learn from home via online classes and some even managed to answer the theoretical exams from their homes. Practical exams of course would require that the students be present in the institution along with the teachers, which at the current time and situation is not advisable.
If that is what higher education institutions did, then private schools in Goa and across the country have emulated them and succeeded in having limited online classes for their students. Various private schools in Goa, from the primary section onwards, have been sending students videos of lessons and also homework, continuing with the learning process and keeping the young minds occupied during the lockdown, while others have actually managed to take classes online via the various interactive apps that are available, many of which are for free. These lessons, videos and homework are all coming from the school premises and not from the homes of the teachers, as the facilities in the schools are without a doubt better.
In constrast, government-aided schools in the State have been lagging far behind in online education. Though the State government has been promoting online teaching, it has not made it compulsory for the schools. Some schools too have been reluctant to venture into the internet teaching due to a lack of equipment and also knowhow. Education Department has now issued a circular asking teachers to report to school daily. While the Headmasters Association has been rather matter of fact about the circular, saying that teachers who have been conducting online classes from home would now do it from the school, the higher secondary teachers assocaition has taken a very different view.
This association wants the State to reconsider this decision. Their contention is that when the number of COVID-19 cases are increasing, was there need for the abrupt call to teachers to return to school. The asociation has gone further asking how can the quality of online education be improved by teaching from schools, stating that on the contrary this will affect the quality. It doesn’t say how it will affect the quality, but goes further to state that all the teachers are not tech-savy, especially the senior teachers, but have done their best in using technology to conduct online classes. It is obvious from this statement, that teachers coming to higher secondaries will have the advantage of using the facilities of the schools and the knowledge of colleagues to better understand how to manage technology and use it in teaching. Wouldn’t this improve the quality?
This is an important issue and there has to be clarity of thought, with all the stakeholders on the same page. The main hurdle to online teaching is connectivity, and this has been admitted to by the Chief Minister. Teachers have been trained for online teaching and whether teachers and students are prepared for it or not, for the next few weeks – if not monhts – this is how it is going to be. Schools have the equipment and the technical knowledge that is required for online teaching. It would be far more practical and beneficial if the online lessons were taken from the schools, as coordination also would improve. If even the limited online teaching that is possible is not taken seriously, students of government and government-aided institutions would be at a disadvantage when compared with those in private schools. It should not happen.
