With a pandemic lurking, colleges and universities have been forced to draw their curtains and shut their doors until further notice. Student, some stranded at hostels, PGs and some at home wonder through the day when will they be out and about again.
Meanwhile, as levels of uncertainty rise with the morning headlines every day, institutions have made arrangements to keep students hooked to their textbooks. Putting various e-learning apps to use, teachers and professors all across India have shifted to online mediums of teaching and imparting education. From live classes on Zoom to conducting assignments on Google Forms, all available platforms have been made use of, to help students keep their studies on track.
Where Professors are busy conducting online classes and seminars for students, college authorities have also taken up the initiative of making online courses from portals like Udemy and Coursera, making them available free of charge to the students. With these courses, teachers and institutes are doing their level best to urge students to take-up online classes that can help them build skills in a variety of domain.
While organisations all over the globe are coerced to work from home, Corporates have taken the initiative to run Virtual or Remote Internships for B-School students. Students have actively been using online means of communication to connect with their mentors and have also enrolled themselves in relevant online courses to stay ahead of the curve.
So, while Work from Home has become the talk of the town everywhere, especially on Social Media, Universities and Colleges are busy promoting Study from Home, taking every action necessary to provide quality education. In fact, boards of school education, like the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have taken measures to ensure school students do not get sidetracked in this time of chaos and crisis.
Apart from recommending online classes to students, teachers in various schools have been advised to record daily lessons and send them across to students via groups on WhatsApp or other channels of communication. Even as teachers prepare lessons and record lectures, they are making use of all mediums – from Whiteboards to Powerpoint Presentations, to ensure that students stay attentive in the comfort of their homes too.
Not only have teachers stepped up to do their bit and contribute in whatever way possible, but also have the boards of schools. In a circular rolled out recently, CISCE has announced a one of its kind partnership with a Bengali television channel called ABP Ananda, to promote online education in India.
The council teachers would take to television to teach the subjects of English, Science and Mathematics for classes 9 to 12. A one-hour introductory session was aired on the said channel on 12th April, Sunday, from 12:00 noon to 1 PM and basis the response, a few more slots will be made available to the council.
The CBSE Board also stepped up to the plat and made all NCERT course books for classes 1 to 12 available for free. You can click here to get access to the books.
Apart from supporting online education, school boards have also decided to promote all students to the next class. In line with the advisory issued by the HRD Ministry, CBSE has asked all its affiliated schools to promote all students of classes 1-8. Students of classes 9 and 11 will be promoted on grounds of internal assessments. Similarly, UP Board has also decided to promote all students of classes 1-9 and 11 without conducting exams.
Unprecedented times have led to our schooling system to act and to evolve manifold. Teachers and professors have left no stone unturned to make classes available for students. And while the novel Coronavirus seems to have extended its stay in the country, it is heartening to see that our schools have opened their doors, arms and hearts to embrace true learning.
