Coronavirus has touched off whopping doldrums in all manner of ways in our life. Arguably education stratum has been estimated to be one of the worst stroked ones. Closure of school, college and universities for a long of period has sowed the seed of anxiety and uncertainty among the involved stakeholders e.g. students, guardians, teachers, govt. authorities, etc.  Anyway, to keep students’ education on track is seemed to be the mammoth task for the authority without more ado. Basically students and teachers are spilt up on this issue whether institutions should run to full-fledged operation of online classes or not. Noticeably govt. has decided to cancel PSC, JSC, HSC/equivalent exams considering the situation and major portion of the citizens has applauded this decision terming as time demanding move. Though three weighty public exams have been scrubbed, what’s next in frame is not yet comprehensible. How the new enrollment in next classes will be conducted or how admission test for graduation level will be taken need to be discussed further. From the experiences, it is evident that if institutions fail to keep students engaged with study, there will be catastrophe in education sector.

Anyway, distance learning through TV, radio, online media like Zoom, Google meet, Facebook live, etc. do not specify necessarily true substitute of face-to-face learning. Yet these can be regarded as the best possible alternatives to keep the study on. Government has taken some initiatives to conduct classes for students of primary and secondary level. But it is matter of bitter truth that still many families in our society don’t have a TV set let alone Desktop or PC. If we consider about radio as a tool of education it will not be the appropriate one for the present context. Smart phones are the suitable for the distance learning but there comes the issue of uninterrupted internet service.

Many countries all over the world have come with idea of online education and they are continuing with this new process. To keep pace with the order of the day, we don’t have best alternatives than online education at this right moment. Secondly, if we fail to keep students on continuation of study, there will be a high dropout rate. There can be high growth of early marriage and child labour due to dropout. Year drop for the graduate students may cause depression and anxiety in the long run.

Engaging students/guardians can be fruitful to protect students from inappropriate contents. Moreover, teachers can update guardians through phone calls. During this pandemic, staying long period of time in houses may make students feel frustrated. Taking care of mental health during this online class can be extra gift for the students. Moreover, guardians of the students can be engaged with the procedure where they will spend time with the students.

Conducting exams for the assessment of the students through online tools is going to be extremely difficult thing. Experts already have raised questions regarding practical and lab classes of science background students. Though we are going to become a middle income country by 2024, still poverty is prevalent in many parts of our country. Managing tools like laptop, computer or a smart phone is a big deal. Moreover, high speed internet is imperative for the students/teachers. Another key challenge is to making teachers familiar with digital tools through which they will conduct classes. For this purpose, teachers should be provided proper training so that they can conduct classes and assess students properly. A special scheme may be taken to provide the adequate materials to the teachers, students. Government should think about providing computers or digital tools with subsidy or with minimum interest of bank loans.

Many countries all over the world have embraced the idea of online education and they are continuing with this new process. To keep pace with the order of the day, we don’t have best alternative than online education at this moment. So, during this pandemic continuation of study should be the most important consideration for the concerned authority to avert loss of valuable academic year, stopping session jams and dropout, etc. Availability of online resources, strong communication with students, community engagement and willingness of all the parties involved with the academic arena can bring the desired result for us.

The writer, a graduate of Development Studies from University of Dhaka, is co-founder of Social Canvassers. E-mail: [email protected]