Education in Pakistan amid COVID19
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a global public health emergency of international concern on 30th January 2020 as well as a pandemic on 11th March 2020. The first two cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan were confirmed by the Federal Health Ministry in Islamabad and Karachi on 26th February 2020. As of 19th June 2020, the total numbers of cases of COVID-19 in the country were 165,062 with 3,229 deaths. In reaction to the COVID-19, Pakistani authorities closed all educational institutions across the country on 13th March 2020. As per the orders given by the Federal Government of Pakistan, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) issued directives to higher education institutions to start preparing for distance learning modes, reschedule the ongoing exams and assist their students online regularly until the COVID19 crisis remains unchanged.
Certainly, like many other aspects of everyday life, COVID-19 has had a serious impact on students, instructors, and educational organizations around the globe. The pandemic caused schools, colleges, and universities across the globe to shut down their campuses so that students could follow social distancing measures. That being said, moving smoothly from an environment of conventional education to distance and virtual learning could not happen overnight. This rapid transformation is linked to various obstacles and challenges at this point. But because nobody knows when this pandemic will disappear fully, educational institutions across the globe decided to use the already available technical resources to create online learning material for students of all academic fields.
Covid-19 compelled academic experts to reconsider the traditional way of face to face learning and they started considering distance learning as a feasible option to fill the classroom void for a duration of three to four months, thus reducing the risk of infection for students before conventional activities are resumed. Online courses are provided by hundreds of institutions but two problems exist. First, from a macro viewpoint, very little is established regarding the effects and efficacy of online education. Second, the capacity to successfully teach digitally is likely to differ based on the wide range of learning goals that guide our instructional and educational priorities.
Online learning can be effective in digitally advanced countries which is why in Pakistan it is ineffective. However, in Pakistan, a significant deal of learning and teaching, as well as administrative activities of academic institutions are handled manually. Lack of access to fast, affordable, and reliable internet connections hinders the process of online learning especially for those who are living in rural as well as marginalized communities of Pakistan. Students who access the internet through smartphones are unable to take advantage of online learning because a significant amount of online content is not accessible via smartphones. The unexpected change to online learning became a measure of organizational agility, with several academic institutions primarily focused on the transfer of educational content to the digital world and not specifically on online teaching and delivery methods. Nonetheless, it was a reminder of the lack of resources in academic institutions and the social marginalization of students, where insufficient access and availability of the internet and the lack of latest technology affected organizational responsiveness and students’ capacity to participate in digital learning. Lack of proper interaction with instructors is another major concern associated with online learning. Additionally, concerns regarding any content of the online course are usually discussed with the relevant course instructor by e-mail, which requires response time. Virtual classes cannot be of interest to students who are tactile learners. Conventional classroom socialization is another major missing in online learning. Students only communicate with their fellows digitally and never see fellow students in person, and thus the real-time sharing of ideas, knowledge, and information is partially missing from the digital learning world.
The current circumstances are unique; unlike normal digital learning situations, as some might argue, it is more accurately crisis learning. There is a stronger need for academic organizations to improve their curriculum and the usage of new instructional methods and strategies should be of utmost significance. Educational institutions are also the focal points of social activities and interactions. If educational activities are suspended, many children and young people will miss social interaction-based activities that are necessary for growth and learning. Students should continue to learn, particularly underprivileged children and young adults, both of whom are impacted by the school’s suspension, so this is a huge issue to be tackled. While short term closure of academic institutions as a consequence of emergencies is not recent, the global scope and pace of present-day educational instability are sadly unparalleled and, if sustained, may inflict psychological distress and misery at various levels.
The majority of Pakistan’s based research on e-learning challenges and opportunities adoption has been conducted in a normal situation and context, where e-learning was a non-compulsory method to amplify the learning and teaching cycle and interactive technology was utilized by very few national academic institutions. Some Pakistani academic studies undertaken in the past have also documented promising findings of distance learning. Just like conventional learning, there is satisfactory interaction in distance education among instructors and learners, the content is well-designed and up-to-date, the instructors are committed, and trained with the skills and possess the required knowledge. However, the present-day situation is entirely different from the normal distance learning programs, where all higher education institutions across Pakistan are forced to implement distance learning methodologies regardless of limited resources and funds.