COVID-19 has left the whole world paralyzed and it is believed that the world economy will see a very harsh recession which will be the biggest since The Great Depression of the 1930s. With the number of cases on a constant rise, the situation is only going to get worse. It is estimated that there will be a loss of almost $9 trillion in the next two years. Millions of people will become poor. COVID-19 is not only affecting the global economy but almost every sector has suffered.
Let's talk about the education sector :
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According to the official data from UNESCO, there was a nationwide shutdown of schools and colleges in 114 countries. There were only a few countries that didn't shut down their educational institutes but overall, more than 1 billion students have been affected by this pandemic.
Online Classes
Many schools and colleges started online classes and many students benefited from this. My younger brother is also enrolled in a college and he has been attending online classes for more than 3 months now. It's actually a good initiative as the students have been in touch with their studies and losses have been compensated to some extent.
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But there are always two sides to a coin. While this practice of online classes is a good idea but the real question here is "how many students have access to the internet"? This might be a strange question to you if you live in developed countries but it is a grave concern for developing and underdeveloped countries.
Let's take an example of India which is a developing country with a population of over 1.3 billion people. You will be shocked to know that less than 20% of the rural households in India have access to the internet. And according to the census of 2018, 66% of the Indian population is rural which means that around 50% of the Indian population has no access to the internet.
I am pretty sure that there are many other countries in the world where the condition is even worse than India. Also, there are some places in the world where the internet is shut quite frequently like in my homeland, Kashmir. So, for me, online classes are beneficial only for a section of people.
Many people around the world have lost their jobs and daily wagers are the people who have suffered the most. Their kids are facing many difficulties and the parents might not be able to fund their education. This will result in many students dropping out of school and some of them might be forced into child labor as well.
Hike in School Fee
While this doesn't hold any meaning if your children are studying in a government-funded school but it does raise concerns if they are studying in private schools. There are many schools in the world that have raised their fee during this pandemic. This is a very serious issue and the governments need to intervene and regulate school fees.
Cancellation of Exams
Many exams have been canceled throughout the world and there is no guarantee that students won't lose a year. This year might be called a zero-year when it comes to education and if this happens and students don't get promoted, it will be a huge disappointment for both students and parents.
Impact on Teachers
Now, it will be unfair if I only mention one side of the whole story. There are plenty of teachers around the world who haven't been paid during this pandemic. It's not their fault and they should be compensated. The institutions have not stopped taking fees from children and they shouldn't stop paying their employees as well.
There are many educational institutes that decided not to charge fees from students during this pandemic and they are suffering as well. Overall, the whole education sector has suffered huge losses that are beyond repair.
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