It is about time that govt devise a policy so that the process of education is no more affected by the lockdown
SUKKUR: The ongoing lockdown necessitates the devising of a mechanism for online education. The WHO has already warned that the coronavirus is here to stay for a significant amount of time — until a vaccine is developed. Whether the country embarks on online education or not, one cannot go back to the traditional classroom education in the near future. The government needs to realise that even if the spread of the virus is controlled in the next few months, the potential fear of the contagion would discourage students from being physically present in the classes. There is also a chance of the re-emergence of the virus. Therefore, we need to be extra cautious.
Last year, the incumbent government had undertaken the task of formulating a uniform national syllabus. The job is not yet done, and the Federal Minister for Education has announced that the country would have a uniform national curriculum by March 2020. If this curriculum had come into force, many of our educational problems would have been solved, with students having already started learning from the government-designated television and radio channels, as well as online classes. However, it appears that the incumbent government is only good at paperwork, and implementation has never been its priority.
It is about time that the federal government, in collaboration with provincial governments, devise a policy so that the process of education is no more affected by the lockdown.
Riaz Mahar
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2020.
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