Alaul Alam :
It is certain that someday the world will be free from the dreadful grip of Covid-19. History says that no pandemic can reign over the world forever but the dire consequence the world experiencing goes on over the years.
It is believed that human sufferings will end up very soon as the scientists across the globe have almost reached the final phase of the invention of corona vaccine. Though it was also thought that the vaccine would appear by the end of the year but now it seems that the ongoing mission to invent Covid-19 vaccine may be prolonged.
Amid the unprecedented crisis the world leaders are trying to combat the economic recession but the loss in education is irreparable. With considering the fact, some countries have started campus education along with new normal online education.
But as many as 100 countries have yet to announce a date for schools to reopen and are investing all efforts to avert the education catastrophe through online education. The education in Bangladesh undergoes a new normal. As soon as the country hit hard by Covid-19, the whole education system went online.
Undoubtedly, shifting education to online is a time-centric initiative by the present government who goes on to think of how to tackle the ongoing recession in education sector. But it is regretted that online education has not been an approach of inclusive education for some unavoidable causes. Different studies report that the majority students are out of this new normal education, thus widening a gap between the technologically haves and have-nots.
Besides, our teachers are found struggling to address students with their learning outcomes as pre-pandemic curriculum seems not supportive to tackle the ongoing recession. Lecture-based recorded classes hardly draw any attractions to the learners.
At tertiary level of education the existing pre-pandemic curriculum does have little impact on teaching online and changing curriculum to address the ongoing online education is a time- required initiative as the universities go through a rigorous process. Apart from this, private universities find no way except taking class with the existing curriculum as they need UGC approval to make any change in it.
It is true that this online trend is okay to survive the country’s education but may be pertinent to ask; how far it is effective for skill development of students that is the prerequisite to combat the competitive world? We know that pandemic has caused huge loss in education but do we know how much the catastrophe would be in post-Covid world?
Another thing is that, are we prepared with our education for the post-pandemic world? Is our educational infrastructure is okay to reopen? It is thought that post-Covid education world would be more challenging than it is prevailing. Are our teachers and students ready to combat the challenges?
Obviously, the prolonged closure of educational institutions has made impacts upon students and teachers. Both students and teachers may have a mixed experience. It may not be always negative as in some cases they are found enjoying the year-long holidays.
On top of that, students are blessed with auto promotion to a higher class with no hurdles of exams and competitions, which made them relaxed while serious students have lost interest in study as they hardly find any scopes for exams and competition in these unprecedented days. However, not only in our education, almost the whole education around the world sees no alternatives to offering students auto promotion amid the ongoing Covid-19.
Online education can shore students up and it may be termed as short-term assistance for continuing teaching-learning but we need to go a long way for long- term achievement as the gap is widening between education and skills.
The education process in the post-Covid world should neither support pre-pandemic curriculum nor stick to the online paradigm. Besides, it is time to re-imagine how, and what, education and skills are delivered to prepare students for a rapidly changing world of work.
Actually, education redesigning is not merely confined in designing curriculum; rather many more policies regarding the empowerment of country’s education should be on focus. We need to ensure inclusive education at every stage of learning. As we know, online education has made a digital-divide, so reducing the gap would be the priority-based initiative to combat the post pandemic world.
The learners hardly have benefits from education if it is not outcome-based. In the country the government along with education experts is focusing on outcome-based education over the years but we hardly find any impacts from this. The causes are many to address. Lecture-based curriculum may be the one cause posing a great challenge in the education sector. In some cases, our teachers are not trained enough that may disrupt the endeavors.
It is imperative to ensure participatory and competitive atmosphere for students. Teachers should be more accountable to the society and nation, and create many scopes to fill up the gap that has been emerged due to Covid-19.
However, it is laudable that the government has decided to bring changes to curriculum and infrastructure at school level along with providing training to teachers. Certainly, it is a good initiative to bring the education to a height and discover more potential out of it. Meanwhile, public universities are undergoing modification on their existing curriculum and private universities have been advised to modify curriculum based on need- analysis.
Finally, it would be obvious to address the challenges prevailing due to unprecedented Covid-19 in education and take a realistic initiative to redesign it to avert any future education catastrophe. More importantly, it is a must to bring the nation to a height in a bid to ensure the sustainable development in the post-Covid world.
(Mr. Alaul is a researcher & faculty, Prime University. Email: [email protected])
