Online education is a learning practice where students use their home computers through the internet. Due to the Corona pandemic all over the world, social distancing and lockdown were implemented globally. Nepal also announced the lockdown on Chaitra 11 2076. The pandemic spreading like wildfire lead the government to stretch the lockdown for longer period. The effect was highly seen over the educational field, which threatened the survival of most of the educational institutions. Since, the practice of traditional studying method was life threatening, the implementation of online education took rapid pace. Online education was forcefully introduced among the students as the strategic attempt of academic institutions to retain students for upcoming new admissions.
The idea of online study seems exciting but there were several problems in its implementation. During this critical period, it was challenging for most of the parents to gather the necessary resources, still this practice was highly welcomed. Being a under developing country, large portion of population consists middle class and lower class people. Not everyone has proper access to the internet connection. Taking classes from home is interesting but there are participants who don’t have proper mobile for attending the class, who are struggling for their basic need of food in this global pandemic. It might be the additional burden on those families to suffer even more mentally.
The question of how educational system moves forward is still there. Government of Nepal conducted SEE examination on the basis of internal evaluation but it does not seem appropriate for +2 and university levels. The examinations were postponed time and again despite of official announcement. The online platforms were primarily used to revise the course; some even used it for conducting online examination. The new admissions were not permitted by government for safety reasons. The tension on the studies of primary and secondary levels seems even more challenging. Even the university levels students and professors were resisting this change, having problems especially on self discipline and
direction.
This is smart step toward making student self-reliant. The rigid practice of being fully dependent on teachers seems to be replaced by research-based study. Online education has come forward as an exceptional opportunity from destructive environmental condition. There have always been questions about our educational system, the method of judging from a single perspective, evaluating hard work of whole year/semester in three hours. It is the time to build up a new culture, participants can play huge role in how to take it forward. This is the second chance, not everybody gets it, so let’s make best of it from the collaborative effort of everyone on redefining educational system.
Umesh Prasad Bhattarai is pursuing BBA from Mahendra Multiple Campus, Dharan. He is currently studying in 4th sem.
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