Md Bayazid Khan :
As education is the key to development, therefore by any means it must be continued even amidst emergency. Before Covid pandemic, education in emergency might be considered during flood, cyclone, earthquake, river erosion etc. But the pandemic, treating also as emergency compelled policy makers of the country to develop innovative plans to continue education. The aftermath of losses in learning may become costly to keep wheels of overall development into right momentum later. So, considering pandemic as not a one time disaster policy makers need to chalk-out compatible and implementable plans and developing a skilled and committed workforces in education sector for keeping students in learning during pandemic like emergencies.
The pandemic realized us rigorously that how important to developing professionalism within teachers and administrators in education sector. Educational institutions have been closed since inception of COVID-19 transmission in March 2020. Students are out of face-to-face learning for a long period although government has been introducing remote learning methods to keep students in the learning process. The pandemic was totally an unexpected and puzzling challenge in education sector. Government had no other alternatives to introduce online teaching with broadcasting lesson on TV and radio despite of knowing the limitations of applying the methods. Impediments like absence of Internet connectivity at remote areas, non-availability of digital devices to hundreds to thousands of students of poor families, no or poor frequency of receiving lessons that has been broadcasting on TV and radio alongside with absence of TV or radio at home of poor families etc hinder to make government’s initiative a success. Rather, introduced initiatives have been brought undesired discrimination towards ensuring inclusive learning. As introduced remote learning methods have no access to huge number of students, therefore government simultaneously adopted offline initiatives such as home based activities (assignments or worksheets) and home visit to facilitate students in learning. But success of assignments/worksheets not only depends to completion or submission but also ensuring of learning of topics concerned to assignments/worksheets. As some teachers (render respect to dedicated and committed teachers) express apathy to visit students’ home with the assignments/worksheets to support students for clarifying their understandings, so majority of the students completed or submitted home based activities with poor or no learning. Moreover, most of the students don’t have any support at home in learning about topics concerned to assignments/worksheets. Thus, offline initiatives have been probing ineffective regards to clarify students’ learning because of teachers’ commitment less attitude. Some teachers also have disinterest to imparting teaching by using virtual sources. Moreover, parents and guardians hardly have seen teachers to encourage them for supporting kids to use digital devices for remote learning. On the other hand, teachers in a body or teachers’ organizations never seen to talk to concerned authorities on addressing challenges of using blended methods of teaching-learning during the pandemic.
Parents and guardians have also been observing poor quality professionalism among education department administrators or managers. They have been failing to motivate teachers and parents to work simultaneously for successful implementation of introduced blended methods of online and offline initiatives minimizing the challenges by utilizing existing resources. They are responsible for monitoring the introduced remote learning methods whether these are using by teachers or not as well as responses of students regards to learning. They are also the sources of information that may use to evaluate efficacy of applying blended methods of learning during the pandemic. Fake information may interpret wrongly that interim remote learning method has more efficacy in learning than face-to-face formal teaching-learning method. Professionalism persuades administrators to provide actual information that will help think-tanks to chalk-out more realistic plan regarding ensuring of inclusive and disparity free learning during pandemic like emergencies.
Discerning parents and stakeholders expect offspring’s learning friendly teachers and education administrators in the education sector. They firmly believe that developing only professionalism in teachers and administrators certainly fulfills their expectations. Professionalism in education goes beyond a checklist of requirements. Instead, it includes ability, integrity and ethical values that may help in performing duties effectively. Professionalism fosters to nourish strong belief to satisfy stakeholders that they expect of professionals.
It’s clear that professionalism in education is important, but equally policy makers need to provide all sorts of logistic and monetary support to teachers and administrators so that they feel comfortable in performing duties professionally. They should also have complicacy free career-path just to accomplishment of anxiety free performances towards ensuring qualitative learning all the year round. They need to be empowered with developing need based micro level plan rather than imposing central incompatible plans and make sure of availability of resources for implementation of plans during emergency.
(Bayazid Khan works for primary education. Email: [email protected])
