Tag: Online Learning

  • School closure: One in three countries not implementing programmes to mitigate learning loss, says report

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: One in three countries where schools were or are still closed due to the Covid pandemic have not yet implemented remedial programmes to mitigate learning loss, according to a survey.

    The “Survey on National Education Responses to COVID-19 School Closures” was conducted by UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank and OECD.

    At the same time, only one-third of countries are taking steps to measure learning losses in primary and lower second levels, mostly among high-income countries, the survey report stated.

    According to it, fewer than a third of low-and middle-income countries reported that all students had returned to in-person schooling, which indicates heightening risk of learning loss and drop-out.

    However, majority of countries reported using at least one form of outreach to encourage students to return to school.

    These included community engagement, school-based tracking, modification to water, sanitation and hygiene services, financial incentives and review of access policies, the report stated.

    “Remedial instruction is vital to help those children who have missed out on school to get back on track and reduce long-term learning losses,” global director for education at the World Bank, Jaime Saavedra, said.

    “This requires an urgent effort to measure students’ learning levels today and collect good quality data to inform classroom practices, as envisioned under the UNICEF, UNESCO, and World Bank’s Learning Data Compact,” Saavedra said.

    The survey documents how countries are monitoring and mitigating learning losses, addressing the challenge of reopening schools and deploying distance learning strategies.

    In total, 142 countries responded to the survey that covers the period from February to May, and spans across the pre-primary, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary levels.

    “Remote learning has been a lifeline for many children around the world during school closures. But for the most vulnerable, even this was out of reach. It is urgent that we get every child back into the classroom now,” global chief of education at UNICEF, Robert Jenkins, said.

    “But we cannot stop there; reopening better means implementing remedial programmes to help students get back on track, and ensuring that we prioritize girls and vulnerable children in all our efforts,” he said.

    The survey found that around 40 per cent of countries extended their academic year and a similar proportion of countries prioritised certain curriculum areas.

    However, more than half of the countries reported that no adjustments have been or will be made, it said.

    “Many countries improved health and safety standards at examination centres, still, 28 per cent of countries cancelled examinations in lower secondary and 18 per cent of countries did so in upper secondary education,” the survey report said.

    “Reviewing or revising access policies was uncommon, especially for girls, a cause for concern as adolescent girls are at the highest risk of not returning to school in low- and lower-middle-income countries,” it said.

    Low-income countries are lagging in the implementation of even the most basic measures to ensure return to school, the survey found.

    For instance, only less than 10 per cent reported having sufficient soap, clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and masks, compared to 96 per cent of high-income countries, it said.

    The survey also sheds light on the deployment and effectiveness of distance learning and related support in more than one year into the pandemic.

    Most countries took multiple actions to provide remote learning.

    Radio and TV broadcasts were more popular among low-income countries, while high-income countries provided online learning platforms, it said.

    However, over a third of low- and lower-middle-income countries reported that less than half of primary school students were reached, the report stated.

    According to UNESCO statistics, in 2020, schools worldwide were fully closed across all four education levels for 79 teaching days on an average, representing roughly 40 per cent of total instructional days averaged across OECD and G20 countries.

    The figures ranged from 53 days in high-income countries to 115 days in lower-middle-income countries, it said.

  • Use satellite TV to bridge learning gap of students: Parliament panel to top officials

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel on Monday recommended the use of satellite television to top officials of the education ministry and the CBSE for bridging the learning gap of students caused due to schools being closed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, sources said.

    The panel also decided to call officials from the ISRO at its next meeting.

    Top officials of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the education ministry deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, chaired by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, on Monday.

    The agenda of the meeting was “Plans for bridging the learning gap caused due to COVID-19 pandemic”.

    The members of the panel, including Sahasrabuddhe, underlined that all efforts should be made to bridge the learning gap of students and strongly suggested the use of satellite television such as Doordarshan DTH as it has more penetration than smartphones and does not require internet facility, the sources said.

    Sahasrabuddhe emphasised that subject-wise classes can be broadcast on specific Doordarshan channels, also in regional languages, and it can be watched by many students in remote areas, the sources said.

    The members of the panel said this model has been adopted by Gujarat and Odisha and other states can also implement it.

    It was decided at the meeting that besides the officials from the education ministry, officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and several states will be called at the next meeting of the panel to discuss the use of satellite television for bridging the learning gap of students.

  • A year of online classes, exams: COVID-19 prompts shift to ‘new normal’ in teaching and learning

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A year of learning in ‘smartphone class rooms’ and appearing for ‘WhatsApp exams’, virtual campus tours to Zoom placement drives and ultimately massive increase in ‘screen time’, the last academic session will go down in history as beginning of the “new normal” prompted by coronavirus-induced lockdown.

    No packing up of bags for first day at school, cancelled sports day or farewells, no shared lunches and massively increased screen time, marked the 2020-21 academic session, which was about to begin just a week after the COVID-19 lockdown was announced last year.

    Smartphones and laptops, which were not allowed in classes and meant for restricted usage at home as well, became the backbone of education throughout the year as COVID-19 pandemic prompted a 360 degree shift from classroom teaching to the online space, including YouTube lectures, Zoom classes, WhatsApp exams and online quizzes.

    While students miss going to schools or colleges, experts say the “new normal” has opened doors for blended learning which is going to stay in the future and is not just a “stop gap arrangement”.

    The new normal also exposed the digital divide in the country where students, parents and teachers scrambled to find ways for those who did not have access to internet or digital devices.

    “My son was supposed to start primary school. He was excited and so were we, but there was no waving him bye for the first day at school because everything happened online. From colouring activities to clay modelling assignments, everything happens online and we help him out in that, but what worries me is that he now may take time to gel with his classmates when he goes to school this year or may be next year,” said Pragati Dev, a software engineer, who has been working from home throughout the year.

    While the sudden increase in exposure to smartphones, laptops and internet became an issue of concern for parents, the Ministry of Education swung into action and framed guidelines for schools for online classes, detailing what should be an appropriate “screen time” for different age groups.

    “When the lockdown first began, schools started replicating the school hours in online classes. They were also not at fault, this had not happened in the country before, they had no clue how to approach it, the only goal was to keep the classes going. We then framed a committee to work on guidelines for such classes which were aimed at ensuring that there is no learning gap but also students’ mental health is not affected,” a senior ministry official said.

    Launching radio lessons to dedicated DTH channels for classes were among the efforts made for students who did not have laptops and smartphones.

    Reaching out to students on neighbours’ phones to sharing assignments on social media messaging platform WhatsApp, the pandemic also changed the role of teachers from traditional classroom set-ups.

    The shift to online classes was not just limited to schools, but also higher education sector which was more prepared for the move.

    However, from open book exams to proctored tests, universities and colleges had their share of catching up to do too.

    “I was in class 12 last year totally engrossed in preparations for board exams and college admissions. While our farewell was cancelled in view of COVID-19 guidelines, the exams were postponed mid-way and then began the endless wait for the remaining exams and delayed college admissions.”

    “There was no merit list by board, no excitement for first day at college, no freshers party. I was disappointed with everything, but satisfied that my family was safe,” said Nisha Bhardwaj, who scored 99 per cent in CBSE class 12 exams.

    Prestigious institutions like IITs and IIMs faced the challenge of not letting the much sought after placement drives be affected.

    “Traditionally, the benefits of Blended Learning strategy were reduced time and being more cost-effective than traditional classroom training. Blended online learning removes location restrictions and eliminates travel costs. We have learnt new lessons and we believe that these lessons should be taken forward post the pandemic rather than treating them as stop gap arrangement for now,” a professor at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi said.

    A nationwide lockdown was announced in March last year to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

    While schools continued to remain closed till last October when partial reopening of the educational institutes was left to states, universities and colleges continued to remain close for months and are reopening now in phases.