Can learning centres be tangible substitutes for school education? - EDITORIAL

Teachers have decided to boycott the Regional Learning Centres that were to be unveiled by the Ministry of Education yesterday (5) to facilitate online education as they are yet to be provided the COVID-19 vaccine on a priority basis. These centres have been established on regional basis in view of the inability to open schools due to COVID-19 outbreak. 

Accordingly, prior to school re-opening, the government has decided to establish ‘Learning centres,’ to provide online facilities to students who did not otherwise have access to them, under the guidance of two teachers each.
The Pandemic has disrupted the education across the world as it is being spread from person to person and the “social distancing” has become unavoidable in physical education. All around the world, educational institutions – schools, universities and even tuition classes - hence are looking toward online learning platforms to continue with the process of education. In many countries even students of primary classes are now participating in online learning, with the help of their parents or elder siblings. Thus it has become the “new normal” in the field of education.

The online education was not introduced gradually to the students, with gaining gradual experience through pilot projects. It was in fact forced on them by the circumstances created by the pandemic. Therefore it is natural that the new system carries its own deficiencies with it which have to be addressed while the process is moving forward. 

The disadvantages of online education seem to be more than it advantages. The main advantage of it is the opportunity it provides to the authorities, teachers and the students to continue with the education process, despite many hurdles including many students being dropped out of it. Online learning has a number of tools such as videos, PDFs, podcasts, and teachers can use all these tools as part of their lesson plans, rather than being confined to text books and note books. Besides, lectures can be recorded, archived, and shared for future reference. 

Since the classes can be taken from home, the online education eliminates some of the expenses such as those incurred on transport and students’ meals while saving a lot of time spent on up and down traveling. It also provides the opportunity for the parents to monitor both, their children and the teachers, which would enhance the sense of responsibility of those at both ends of, for instance, the zoom link.

However, apart from the technical issues such as devices suddenly going out of order, students might feel a sense of isolation in an online class than attending a class physically. And the possibility of them being distracted at an online class is more, due to issues at home environment and especially the absence of live eye contact between them and the teachers. Similarly teachers would not be able to assess the level of enthusiasm of the students in his/her teaching which would help him/her to make amends in the flow of his lecture.

The gravest issue that affects teachers as well as the students in countries like Sri Lanka is the inequality in connectivity and device availability. Even in developed countries, this is an issue for some extent. Besides, the authorities have started the online classes with the belief that teachers and students are well-versed in IT, which is not the case. At least teachers must be trained to use the devices properly and to work with students including those who are less knowledgeable in IT. 

Indian and Sri Lankan TV channels time and again show students trekking miles through jungle routes in certain areas sometimes frequented by dangerous animals to get a proper signal so that they could attend classes or submit their assignments online. This is an inevitably “good” story for the media, but a pathetic indication of the living standards of a section of the society. One year has passed since the students in part of this country have started to complain about this issue, yet authorities have failed to address it. The only decision they have taken with regard to this is to establish ‘Learning centres’ which are also running the risk of closure in the event of isolation of the area due to a sudden spike of the pandemic in that locality. And these centres would not accommodate all students affected by lack of connectivity.

The government can negotiate with the internet service providers with a view to erect more signal towers while implementing a concessionary mechanism for the accessibility to the devises by the schoolchildren. And also they can consider the proposal put forward by the JVP to use the television channels as windows of education. We would sometimes have to live with ups and downs of COVID-19 for years, despite the third wave of it in Sri Lanka having shown signs of subsiding.