COVID -19 is not only a health issue but at the same time it is creating political, economic, cultural, religious, psychological and educational problems. This pandemic badly affected the whole educational system of the world. Due to outbreak of Corona Virus in Pakistan, the government ordered the closure of schools, colleges and universities to implement social distancing for prevention of Coronavirus.
It was a good decision at that time for preventative measures . However, after some time, universities started online classes but mostly students are not ready for taking online classes due to many problems. They have strong reservations on commencement of online classes.
Everyone knows differences between online classes and regular classes. Students paid full fee for regular classes for studying in universities but now students are at home and they still charge full fee. No consistent policy or rule is followed for charging fee. Science subjects are being taught through online classes but everyone knows these subject require practical labs and specific environment. Students and teachers are facing the issues of Lack of direct contact with students, unaccountability of educational institutions and mismanagement of time resource.
Poor internet connection is another issue. The internet facility is not supplied uniformly throughout the country. Similarly, the Internet packages are not affordable for poor students. Moreover, our teachers and students don’t have necessary experience of online classes. Students and teachers both are facing financial and technical difficulties. Some teachers are sharing recorded lectures which are not according to the syllabus provided by universities. Students are also not facilitated to respond about the effectiveness of online lectures. Unfortunately,right now there is no standard evaluation procedure to check the performance.
It is evident that the closure of universities have more negative impact on the learning of students from low income families. Students who belong to rural and backward areas suffered the most as compared to the students who belong to rich families.
At the end,many families do not have appropriate educational environment at their home which makes the situation worse. So, the government and all other elements including institutions and the parents,should work collectively to facilitate students in this crucial time.
