March 24, 2020, marked the beginning of lockdown with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordering a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, which subsequently got extended. This week’s write-up is an extensive interaction with some of the city’s known academicians to get their expert opinion about Shillong’s current education scenario.
Mr. Lamonte Adrian Pariat, Principal, Hill Crest Higher Secondary School, Shillong expressed that “Teachers, students, parents, and administrators were thrown- overnight into a very unfamiliar learning environment where all were ‘forced’ to adapt, adjust, and even make the most of. While in complete isolation, this scramble into online learning has had a profound effect and a paradigm shift in the educational system”. In fact, the impact of this sudden shift has witnessed mixed responses from citizens from all works of life, with of course people from the rural interiors having had to face the adverse consequences.
In a very brief manner, Dr. Anjalee Shangpliang, Associate Professor, Lady Keane College, Shillong went on to say that “The pandemic crisis has placed us in a global scenario where we have been sandwiched between two situations. On one hand, we are faced with the lockdown movement restrictions, social distancing, etc, and on the other hand, the need for life to move on, hence the need for education to keep progressing. In the light of this situation, we have but to depend on Online Learning and Teaching (L&T) Process”. She further shared “I believe this is a new Revolution in Education, to take it positively. We should consider ourselves fortunate, except for a few, with quite a good hand over technology devices (gadgets, phones, internet) if not mastered it”.
Many of the new approaches to education were anticipated by many that it will get over by this year with educational institutions opening up in phases. The second wave, however, confirmed that the pandemic is here to stay, and as rightly stated by Dr. Anjalee, this ‘new revolution in education’ is what we have to adapt to, for many more years to come.
Assessment and Examination:
When it came to assessment and examination, Sr. (Dr.) Mary Harriet, Principal, St. Mary’s College, Shillong opines that “The examination system was a waste because of the open book exam. The evaluator could not evaluate the student’s understanding of the subjects. The correction was difficult since the correction had to be done online. The success of the practical exam was next to nil and the quality of education dropped drastically”. Dr. Anjalee added “Policymakers should use their intellect for a justified and uniform system of assessment. Such a system may take some time to emerge and work especially with crucial examinations of national in character shaping the life of the youth”.
Dr. Abir Suchiang, Assistant Professor and Assistant Registrar i/c, English and Foreign Language University, Regional Campus, Shillong, Meghalaya, however, while admitting that the initial two months of the pandemic was quite difficult, but over time the students accepted the online mode of teaching. He further stated that “EFL University was one of the first Universities in India to conduct the online semester exam successfully”. He believes that “Online learning has given more opportunities to students to solve and answer questions in a very analytical manner since they are given ample time. Moreover, they are more comfortable in their own environment”.
Perhaps, different universities have different approaches and different students joining their institutions. While some educational institutions have the cream of the society with toppers joining them, the real hardships for administrators are managing educational institutions with students coming from diverse backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses. Sr. Mary added that since there was a lack of socializing, holistic learning is also lacking”. In line with this, Mr. Lamonte shared “There has definitely been a lot of absentees. Quite a few of the students have just stayed disconnected to their school and teachers for so many reasons”. He added that children and some parents have expressed that this system of learning is too stressful for them and so they just want to stay away from the online learning process for the year and re-join when schools get back to the normal system.
Learning Styles:
When it comes to the learning styles of students, Mr. Lamonte expressed “Observably, the online system of education has a lot of limitations and there is a large difference when a student and his or her parents have actually chosen to ‘home-school’ a child or participate in distance learning and one who is forced into online classes. In the former, both parents and students are prepared to participate in a formal and well-designed curriculum that takes into consideration the home environment and the capacity of the parents to guide the child in the whole process of learning. In the latter, though, apart from the sudden change, a lot of elements of the learning process come into play which may either make or break the child’s learning system”.
Sr. Mary shared that lack of physical contact of the teachers and the students has resulted in several difficulties; particularly in understanding if students can follow the teaching, or for that matter to encourage and help the students to shine in their gifts, talents, and aptitudes. Even while making a lot of effort, students are not able to express themselves properly due to internet problems.
Gearing up for this new challenge, Dr. Anjalee proposes that “It is high time we move away from rote learning and conventional method of teaching-learning process and give way to the new trend, new wave-making use of technology. We have to adjust to new situations and new demands, new needs… therefore we need to buckle up and present an attractive education system to the new generation, otherwise, we will be failing in our responsibilities to the young and cater to their present need”.
While sharing his experiences at the university level, Dr. Abir suggests that “a teacher can compile a resource section online with links to scholarly articles, institutions, and other materials relevant to the course topic for students to access for research, extension, or in-depth analysis of course content material. In the online environment, the teacher and students collaborate to create a dynamic learning experience. Therefore, the art of teaching is quite different from classroom teaching. Teachers can reflect on their course objectives and be more creative in their teaching styles”.
The above points seem to suggest that learning has definitely taken a different role. Implementation strategies will also have to be different, to be able to reach out to the students based on school, college, and university levels of education. Not forgetting that the ‘inclusive’ phrase in education will now include students coming from low socio-economic status, those who can avail all necessary digital requirements for learning, those who cannot afford, those who can continue learning from online platforms, and those who cannot do so.
Seriously shown in studies:
To understand the performances of the students, Dr. Anjalee believes that “The present learning process is definitely not uniform… even if you are to compare the urban area higher education situation; there is no equation, while some educational institutions are already setting the balls rolling, and others are yet to get into the motion for various reasons. So to assess all institutions with the same yardstick as done earlier will not present an encouraging picture at this juncture”.
Sr. Mary expressed “Most of our students do not display the seriousness the new medium demands and secondly the environment at most homes is not conducive”. Mr. Lamonte on the other hand articulated “I feel that we have already evolved in this one year, or so, in our educational system and it is entirely up to us to take the best and make the most out of the situation. Having said that, if we are compelled to continue in the present system of learning, it would definitely hamper the learning skills of the children, and the whole purpose of the curriculum may never be achieved at all – leave alone completing the course. If we leave the curriculum as it is which is designed for classroom teaching and expect it to be adapted in the online environment for a long period of time it may cause irreparable damage in the learning process of a child, especially with the younger children”.
(The writer can be reached at maxwell.lyngdoh@gmail.com)
