Covid-19 has interrupted education of over a billion students worldwide. In such times, the optimum solution to sustain education is online learning. Schools are conducting classes online via Zoom, Moodle and proprietary school software. The sudden need for online education has created an opportunity to experience how online learning can improve the educational landscape and policies in India.
While there are policies that provide resources to implement online learning, integrating the education structure with e-learning is absent. The most daring use of online learning is by providing nationally standardised education, irrespective of social class and rural background.
There is a lack of structure or framework that allows e-learning platforms and mainstream education to amalgamate and provide equal education for all. Creating an integrated curriculum that is accessible across all boards will lead to a seamless education infrastructure that benefits students across India. This obstacle can be crossed by better policy making and technology percolation by telecom giants. Collaboration between government, school management service providers, ed-tech companies and public and private enablers is the need of the hour. A capable task force is needed to achieve this collaboration. This will help highlight strengths and weaknesses of the current system and help deliver effective education.
source: This article was first published in Financial Express (Online Edition) on May 18, 2020.