In the last couple of decades, mankind didn’t face the type of crisis it is facing now. With the COVID-19 giving a blow to the already deteriorating Indian economy since the penultimate quarter of last fiscal year, the migrant worker crisis and job losses thumped down the final nail into the coffin.
Reaching Home Safely Became The Priority For Students Across India
As soon as the lockdown period started after Janta Curfew, the whole country came to a standstill. This step taken to prevent the spread of the virus didn’t help much and people were stuck at different corners of the country. None could stop the worried migrant workers from using their god-gifted mode of transport (yes, legs) and a number of them started on foot since no scope of their sustenance was left in the urban jungles.
However, the first among the institutions that were closed owing to public safety were the hostels, colleges, universities, and labs. Those related to educational institutions are generally considered the most understanding among all others. Adorned with heavy backpacks and trolley bags, and obediently putting on the mask (which was indeed very uncomfortable to put on initially), everyone started to vacate their respective places within very short notice – I still remember the 15th of March, when I did the same.
Reaching home safely was indeed our first priority, and in those rush hours, many of us had left some of our most valued possessions (i.e. the books) back in hostels. It was indeed a sigh of relief, especially for the hostelers at the very beginning, as they were going to have some home-cooked food due to some unpredictable turn of events on such short notice. But alas! they didn’t know that it would be the last time they’ll be stepping out of their college/university gates, at least for the next couple of months.
Indian Economy Has Been Able To Recover Since Lockdown Was Lifted
As the government ramped up its health infrastructure and recovery rate started to improve, life slowly started to come back to normalcy. Industries were allowed to open with limited manpower, offices too started operating soon following proper protocols. Workers started to travel back to cities (yeah, not everyone) in search of livelihood. Things started to get better and as of today, India has a recovery rate of around 94%, and almost every function of an economy has resumed its work.
I have used the term almost every, and there is a strong reason behind the choice of words. Hostels and Labs – two integral parts of higher educational institutions, are yet to be opened across the country.
As soon as the lockdown started, education started becoming some kind of luxury. Only a particular portion of the population who were able to afford a certain set of equipment was able to take part in the teaching-learning process. The Right To Education came somewhat to a standstill, at least for the underprivileged section of the society.
With all these months of participation in the online teaching-learning process, I can say that we are still hugely under-prepared for this kind of education. The problem is at both ends of the process. Firstly, not all teachers are equipped with the prerequisites for online teaching. Secondly, the lack of a black-board makes the whole process a blunt experience.
Thirdly, the kind of interaction that we are used to having in the classroom is entirely missing in the online process. Finally, the unavailability of the right kind of data infrastructure around the country only worsens the experience. As such, online education can only remain as a supplementary mode of education, at least for the next decade, if not more.
If Someone Complains About The Unemployability Of Graduates, Tell Them Our Labs Were Closed
Not opening the labs as well as hostels across the country is causing a huge setback amongst the student fraternity. We might have heard how the non-maintenance of labs during the lockdown period at JNU damaged several samples collected from different parts of the country.
Talking about myself, I have enrolled for a Master’s degree in Chemistry this year and we are supposedly going to have online exams based on theories of the practicals that we were to carry out properly at labs. So, next time someone complains about the unemployability of graduates/post-graduates or research scholars, tell them that our labs were kept closed.
The laboratory holds the key to the practical utility of what we learn in the classrooms. No amount of virtual labs or theory-based education can provide us with the practical knowledge that we gain in the labs. The sooner the people in power realize this thing, the better it will be for the upliftment of deteriorating scientific education. When every other aspect of an economy can be reopened, there isn’t much justification left for not allowing to open the laboratories/hostels.
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