The Trained Psychotherapeutic Professionals of Meghalaya (TPPM) has sent a letter to Education Minister, Lakmen Rymbui, on the current education system prevailing in Meghalaya.
In the letter to Rymbui, the TPPM summarised a few important suggestions that academicians, teachers, students and parents had on the education system that was implemented during the pandemic which was based on their interactions with them over the last few months.
On the online system the TPPM said that parents in Shillong where wifi connectivity is not an issue has preferred this system.
However, some have complained about mobile network issues and the high rate of recharges these companies charge as data is easily spent within a few hours of connectivity and when the limit exceeds 50 percent of usage, the speed seems to decrease.
In the letter to the Education Minister the TPPM stated that the online system has proven difficult for many students who do not have electronic devices such as laptops or Smartphones and are missing out on online classes.
“Others have also expressed their difficulty especially if many siblings require an electronic device but they only have a single device or just their Parents’ devices. Parents have expressed their difficulties in purchasing electronic devices which are expensive but also on the recurring expenditure of Mobile recharge or Wifi payments,” the TPPM stated.
The teachers whom the TPPM interacted with had suggested that the curriculum needs to be relooked into as the same framework that was intended for offline classes cannot be met for online classes.
Teachers had also suggested that the Education department needs to think about child-friendly online-based activities which could be carried out at home with the supervision and involvement of parents where a child expected learning for a particular year will be fulfilled.
The teachers have also suggested that the Education department think seriously about how the child is learning rather than pushing completion of the course without it benefitting the child holistic growth and if the child is expected to be pressured into blind learning, then the fear that teachers have is that it will take away the child’s interest in learning and progressing.
The students have expressed their need for pre-loaded videos of classes by their respective teachers on various topics relating to the syllabus such that they can view them again if they need clarity.
Meanwhile, on the offline system majority of rural students including parents have asked that the school or college hold a small batch of classes at least once a week.
They suggest that 10 students per day can go and have classes to get clarity on their doubts and a better understanding of their syllabus.
Moreover, students who are not from Shillong have expressed their frustration over the online classes and would rather have Schools Hand out Books and Study Material like that of IGNOU system with a weekly collection of homework from school.
“We hope that the Minister takes them seriously and formulate a better system for education in Meghalaya that is child friendly and feasible at this stage of the pandemic,” the TPPM stated.
The TPPM said that it has seen that the online system is clearly not working especially in areas where connectivity is hampered.
“It is also obvious that many families cannot afford that just online class to be the norm due to various reasons like inability to purchase hi-tech gadgets or even the recurring monthly expenditure on internet recharge,” it stated.
The TPPM hoped that the Minister and the Education department takes the opportunity that the pandemic had provided to overhaul the education system that has proven to not work for years now and that they focus on learning that is child oriented and cater to the multiple intelligence that exists, with special emphasis on the interests and potentials of the child.
“We are also concerned that if we are too late to act, children may lose their interest in learning and that will affect their overall growth and their future beyond the pandemic age,” the TPPM stated.
