Smartphone education for the affluent - EDITORIAL

These days we see a leading television station going all out to send a message to the state authorities that there are less affluent students who don’t have access to online education. 
Most of these visuals show students walking up mountains and climbing trees, so that they’ll have better reception. Though at times viewers tend to think that this television channel is trying to exaggerate the given situation the air time allocated for this news has produced the results. 

Recently President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had inquired from his chargers about the problems faced by students pursuing online education. Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport Namal Rajapaksa had responded positively by stating that efforts are being made to locate areas where reception is strong with the intention of putting up telecommunication towers. 

But the government has to see beyond online education and ensure that the crippled education system is salvaged. Some teachers are struggling to cope with the challenges posed by having to do online classes because there are teachers who are not tech savvy. 

"Critics have pointed out that bright students would perform in any situation and teachers must have a plan to pull weak students out of the wood; which is not happening at present. Overall the online education system has fallen short of expectations."

However there are young and ambitious teachers who find this method quite useful and continue to produce results. Critics have pointed out that bright students would perform in any situation and teachers must have a plan to pull weak students out of the wood; which is not happening 
at present. 

Overall the online education system has fallen short of expectations. Hence the government has instructed all provincial education directors to establish regional learning centres to boost the depleted education system. Educationist CWW Kannangara’s dream of ensuring free education for all can’t be achieved when sections of the society are left out of the online portal due to technical shortcomings. The education ministry’s e-portal ‘Ethaksalawa’ has contributed in a positive manner despite the negative environment present in education. The television education programme ‘Gurugedara’ also has come in for praise. 

But education authorities give staggering figures when they ring alarm bells regarding students who have dropped out. Just the other day we read in the newspapers that 60% out of 4.3 million students have called it quits because they cannot afford online education.

We also read in the print media that a good number of students following online education have broken down psychologically due to academic stress. There are complaints from students that they find it difficult to stare at their mobile phone screens for as long as four to five hours. 

The attempts made to continue education using online facilities must be acknowledged. But the government must allow schools to function at the earliest, given they follow Covid health regulations, because it is very clear that online portals cannot replace the love, care and special attention teachers give those students who are struggling to keep up with the lesson. 
The advantages and disadvantages of online education can only be truly witnessed once the students return to the physical classroom after the health situation in the country improves. 

Some of our students are already so used to their smartphones because wonders can be performed with the click of a button. To conclude this editorial this writer thought of recalling a recent post on Face Book where a master tells a tech savvy dog to fetch a bone fallen a few feet away from the animal. Quick silver and the dog switches on GPRS on its smart phone and observes the location of the bone. We just hope that our tech savvy students have not lost their connectivity with the outside world during this period where home study was promoted via smartphones.