The Covid pandemic has affected people by a health crisis, economic crisis, mental crisis, and children’s education crisis. According to reports, more than 1.5 billion students’ study routine and grasping capacity have been reduced since the schools and colleges have shut down. No doubt schools have adopted the online medium of teaching and learning.
But for this case, there are series of factors that have to be lined up in perfection such as schools should consider the resources for remote learning, students should have access to computers, laptops, printers, broadband, and other critical factors without which passing an entire grade is next to impossible. Also, what if learning will be least prioritized, and the bright students will start lacking in their already acquired knowledge skills? Hence, we all can say that this pandemic has a massive effect on children and their education years.
Covid and pandemic on the education system in families
Drastically, this burden of schools shutting down will affect not only students but also their families indirectly. This overburden is taken by the students, which leads to a communication gap between parents and children. Fortunately, there is still a time where things can get better. We need to keep in mind that every child receives equal education and other facilities related to education. If there is any crisis, educational institutes must balance the bridge between rich and poor students. The situation now in India is so worse that schools are left with no option other than to promote the students. In such cases, the dull students get benefitted, but it feels injustice to the bright students. The students who study devotedly for the entire year are asked to keep it aside, whereas the students who do not show interest in studies and promoted automatically without any examination.
Effect of Covid-19 on the achievement gap between students
Let us assume that this interruption of Covid for schools takes place for consequent years. Whenever there are extra classes held for students before their summer break, there is no guarantee that students will recollect it even after the summer break. According to surveys, it is said that, let’s say in mathematics, students gain 8 points during the academic year and lose 4 points during their summer break. In English, summer loss is comparatively more minor, but it takes place in most students. Now that we understand the concept, what will possibly happen if this pandemic continues for a longer extent of time, say the minimum of three months or maximum a year? If children do not engage themselves entirely in this online mode of schooling, they will experience their summer loss for the entire year.
In short, we can see that the less fortunate students might get affected by this and left out for more than a year of schooling. It is possible that this concept of summer loss may not wholly relate to the current situation of the pandemic. Still, even if it applies to less than half the number of students, it is substantial and worth thinking about. It will give rise to education inequality and barriers in socio-economic factors.
Tips to regain children’s creativity and focus on studies
In this pandemic, students and teachers find it challenging to teach and learn at home. Many of the students are struggling with self-regulation and difficulty focusing and concentrate on studies and classwork. Hence, below are some tips that can help such students to be creative again and stay focused.
Prepare a place for children, encourage them to take breaks between work periods, and praise on-task behavior and task completion.
Break tasks down into smaller “bite-size” pieces and clearly describe what successful task completion looks like while keeping in mind specific task requirements.
Help students by asking them to identify and evaluate the immediate and long-term consequences of their decisions.
Give children choices in areas they can control and include them in decisions about their behavior. This promotes self-regulation than just giving commands.
Give kids the opportunity to practice new information so they can remember it later.
Allow them to use a variety of different techniques for completing tasks.
Vary activities by changing the wording for assignments.
Create play opportunities. Games and creative play can stimulate functional self-regulatory skills.
Online learning and its effects
As said earlier, it is crucial to know whether all the students have the required elements of acquiring education online. Some students without a PC or proper bandwidth struggle to participate in the online teaching-learning process. However, this gap differs from country to country. Some schools and colleges provide these facilities to needy students, whereas some institutes keep their hands tied. Generally, students who have access to the appropriate technology have the benefits of effective online learning. According to reports, 25-60% of students retain learning material online rather than actual offline learning. Also, online education takes 40-60% less time to cover topics than offline teaching. This is because students here grasp according to their own pace. That is, they can skip or forwarding the educational videos according to their capabilities. Again, the effectiveness of online education varies between different age groups. It is observed that younger students face difficulty learning as they are distracted mainly by sitting in one place for a long time. Other physical problems like back pain, eye irritation, and shoulder pain are experienced by most students. Social factors like disturbance at home or not having an educational environment around students or teachers also affect online learning.
Hence it is clear that this online mode of education has badly affected the education system already being seen. In the future, schools will focus on academic skills rather than creativity and adaptability techniques. Is this move of online education building or harming the critical years of students? Well, this is just the question of time. Understandably, online education is the new normal, and we have to accept it until the pandemic decides to slow down.
About Peki therapy
Peki therapy is a psychological therapy and counseling center specialized in adolescent and adult therapy. Lalpeki Ralte is interactive in her style, focusing on emotions by integrating complementary toolkits and intervention through online video consultation.
With an understanding of your requirements, she offers a personalized approach tailored to you and your needs to build on your strength and attain well-being and personal growth.
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