SOCIAL DISTANCING AND THE CHANGING FACE OF EDUCATION — A STUDY ON THE STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS OF KOLKATA

Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting life-long learning opportunities for all’ is one of the targets of sustainable development. But the sudden outbreak of Covid-19 has put a major challenge for countries like India where having access to classroom education is a daydream for many children. The rationale that having online classes is better than no classes on the ground of maintaining social distancing has accelerated the educational inequality further. To understand how our students as well as teachers are adopting technology, teaching learning process, their experiences and obstacles faced by them in this regard a survey in various schools, colleges and universities across Kolkata had been conducted from the perspectives of both the groups. Result showed neither teachers nor the students have gladly accepted this new paradigm. Unstable internet connection is the major hindrance as pointed out by both educator and learner. Students have also pointed out assignment submissions, doubt clearing as some important obstacles. Though everyone has accepted that technology driven education will lead to digital divide in the education system, it must be acknowledged this crisis has led to a drastic change in the higher education system.‘保障包容公平的优质教育、为全民提供终身学习机会’是可持续发展目标之一。然而，新冠疫情（COVID-19）的突然暴发给印度等国家带来了严峻挑战——在这些国家，许多儿童连接受课堂教育都仍是奢望。以维持社交距离为由，认为线上课程总好过无课可上的逻辑，进一步加剧了教育不公平现象。为了解师生对技术的应用情况、教学流程的适配状况，以及双方在该过程中的体验与面临的障碍，研究团队从师生双视角出发，在加尔各答全市的各类中小学、学院及大学开展了一项调研。调研结果显示，师生双方均未欣然接受这一新型教育范式。师生双方均指出，网络连接不稳定是最主要的阻碍因素；学生还补充提到，作业提交、答疑解惑也是重要的实践障碍。尽管所有人都认可，技术驱动型教育会加剧教育体系中的数字鸿沟，但不可否认的是，这场危机也推动了高等教育体系的深刻变革。