Educational institutes scramble to take learning online

The Union home ministry on Wednesday released guidelines stating educational institutes — schools, colleges, and coaching institutes — will continue to remain shut

The Union home ministry on Wednesday released guidelines stating educational institutes — schools, colleges, and coaching institutes — will continue to remain shut till the end of lockdown May 3, putting universities and educational boards in a spot.

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A countrywide lockdown till April 14 was put in place by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month to contain the spread of Covid-19. The lockdown was on Tuesday extended till May 3.

Amid the closure of schools and colleges, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which is yet to complete conducting Class 12 board exams, will also not be able to restart its evaluation process that has been on hold since March 19.

The CBSE is also yet to conduct re-examination for Class 10 and 12 students of northeast Delhi districts, where board exams had to be postponed after the February communal riots.

“Since the lockdown has been extended and the exams, as well as evaluation, are still pending, the board will hold deliberations on how to proceed further,” a CBSE official said .

While announcing the closure of educational institutes till May 3, the MHA on Wednesday added that these institutions are “expected to maintain academic schedule through online teachings.” The institutes have been asked to use Doordarshan and other educational channels for teaching purposes. The Delhi government had earlier told HT that they were exploring options of using television channels to reach out to students.

In order to conduct exams, however, universities are waiting for recommendations from the University Grants Commission, which has set up a panel of vice-chancellors to find out ways to mitigate academic loss and chart a course of action. The committee is expected to submit its report by Thursday. The varsities have, however, prepared a set of options which can be used for its students.

“Online is one of the options being explored. The final decision will only be taken after the UGC panel gives its recommendations. DU has a large number of students and we have to take that into account before making any decision,” said Vinay Gupta, Dean (Examinations), DU.

A senior DU official, requesting anonymity, said the university has prepared different modalities including multiple-choice question-based assessment or assignment-based assessment. “We are waiting for the government’s recommendations on how exams should be conducted since there should be a uniform process across the country,” the official said. The varsity is also training its teachers through workshops and webinars on online teaching-learning processes. Students and teachers having queries can reach out to the Delhi University Computer Centre with their doubts.

Jawaharlal Nehru University too recommended online examinations on Tuesday and is waiting for feedback from its Deans, before formulating the final policy. “Students who will be unable to give examinations for lack of internet connectivity should be allowed to submit their assignments with a grace period. However, students, who do not have internet connectivity due to the lockdown, will be permitted to write the online examinations after they return to the campus post lockdown,” said a report prepared by the varsity’s committee constituted to look into the matter.

On Tuesday, HT had also reported how Jamia Millia Islamia was planning to carry out five 20-marks online assessments and use best of three as the final score. The varsity is also compiling a list of students who do not have access to the Internet to formulate an alternative.

In a country with a sharp digital divide, the suggestion to switch to the online mode of education has left many thinking about students who do have access to the internet or devices like smartphones and computers.

Poonam Batra, who teaches at the department of education, DU, said, “Due to this lockdown and subsequent online classes, the digital divide is clearly visible. It is worse at school level, where there are major issues, including poor access to computers. While authorities are seeking to digitise education, our ground reality tells a different story. Many students will be left out, resulting in deeper educational inequalities.”

Professor Shyam Menon, former vice-chancellor of Ambedkar University, however, said, “Online learning isn’t the ideal scenario but this is an exigency and we are trying to do the best we can. Teachers are using both synchronous (video calls) and asynchronous (email readings) means of online communication to reach out to students since there is an unevenness in access to the internet.”

Menon, who also teaches at the department of education, DU, added, “An alternative could be printing out study materials and sending them to students by postal services. That could work once there is some relaxation in the lockdown.”