For the past two years the education has completely shifted to e-mode, with students and the teachers adapting themselves to the available digital platforms to keep the education sector breathing. There was a paradigm shift in the mode of education in March after a nationwide lockdown was imposed by the government of India in view of the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the country.
All the educational institutions continue to remain closed for all types of off line academic activities as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, forcing the government to re-impose COVID-19 restrictions to prevent further spread of the deadly virus.
The teachers have played a pivotal role in keeping the studies going on despite facing odds amid the slow speed of the internet during the first wave of COVID-29 and other confrontations in the prevailing situation.
The closure of the schools in J&K came up as a major challenge for the school education department with regard to the continuity of the studies of students particularly in government schools.
While the educational institutions remained closed for offline class work, the government, since last year, took up various initiatives to disseminate the education through online mode, using different digital platforms. The exercise was not a cake walk keeping in view the prevailing situation here.
The government school teachers prepared e-content, distributed curriculum based home assignments to lakhs of children at their door steps. The department uploaded e-content and video lectures prepared by teachers, on the official website of the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK).
For the last two years, the teachers in Kashmir, and Jammu divisions acted as foot soldiers to make every initiative taken by the department a success by working day in and day out for the benefit of students enrolled in government schools.
The departmental support coupled with the hard work of the teachers was a major reason for making online mode of education convenient for the students. Gradually the students from primary to senior secondary level had adapted the process of online mode of education.
Not only the curriculum but the teachers came up with some innovative ideas to keep the school children engaged with some extracurricular activities while remaining at their homes.
The teachers received appreciation from all quarters for continuing online classes and community schools throughout the academic year. To keep it smooth, the teachers started working with the same tempo this year as well.
The teachers continued delivering online classes for students besides preparing other study material for the students. While continuing online classes the teachers maintained a smooth process for maintaining their attendance which was entertained on the basis of the number of online classes delivered by them on a daily basis.
This year, the department took an advanced step with an intention to streamline the online education system by introducing a Learning Management System (LMS) to monitor the attendance of teachers as well as the students during the online classes.
LMS was introduced in addition to the routine online mode of education to monitor the online classes, besides keeping track of the attendance of the teachers and students.
By using LMS, the department was supposed to monitor the extent of daily learning through online classes and help to keep the students linked with their teachers during the lockdown period.
However, the introduction of LMS complicated the smooth process of online education after it faced technical glitches causing inconveniences to the teachers.
The LMS application remains defunct for around five hours on a daily basis which has de-motivated the hardworking teachers who are otherwise working tirelessly to keep the online system of education alive for the benefit of the students.
Due to this, the teachers from towns and cities have also shown interest to hold community classes – an initiative taken by the government to reach out to the students who do not have access to the internet facilities and smart phones thus remain unavailable for online classes.
It is not that teachers are showing disinterest to teach their students but they want to avoid complications which have erupted in the system post introduction of the LMS system.
The government should have maintained a simple and smooth system within the department to maintain the attendance of the teachers; we must remember that previously teachers worked with utmost zeal to keep the education system intact. We should not suspect their dedication, and their commitment to deliver duties.
The department should focus on simplifying the system rather than making a smooth process more complicated by introducing LMS-like interventions in the online system of education.
While the educational institutions remained closed during 2020 academic year, the teachers used different digital platforms and tools to deliver online classes and all the teachers would ensure their attendance on a daily basis. The department should have further eased the process instead of making it complicated which has forced teachers to complain on a daily basis. The teachers are frequently complaining about the technical glitches faced by the LMS which spoils the overall system of online education. Keeping in view these circumstances the department should ease restrictions for teachers on submitting their online classes through LMS. No doubt there is a group of teachers who do not complain about the technical glitches faced by the LMS because these teachers are either adjusted in CEO offices or ZEO offices or in different sections of the directorate who are not directly engaged with the students.
These teachers are showing a rosy picture to the higher ups in the department only to ensure their permanence in these offices. Otherwise the department is also aware about the hiccups faced by the teachers in using the newly introduced LMS for online classes.
Recently, the director school education had also acknowledged the hiccups faced by the teachers and stated that the department will hold training programs for the teachers and train them for using LMS.
However, it is not that LMS is Greek to teachers but the application has technical snags which makes it time consuming and distracts the teacher from delivering the online classes on a daily basis.
The teachers should be given liberty to submit the online lecture through any of the available digital platforms which will prove beneficial for the students as well. Teachers are working in a rhythm for the last two years to keep the students in touch with their studies amid the ongoing pandemic situation.
Let the focus be on compensating academic losses of the students by whatever possible ways and means instead of making the whole system complicated which will prove detrimental for the students.