• The COVID-19 has resulted in schools shut all across the world. Globally, over 1.2 billion children are out of the classroom.
• As a result, education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms.
• Research suggests that online learning has been shown to increase retention of information, and take less time, meaning the changes coronavirus have caused might be here to stay.

While countries are at different points in their COVID-19 infection rates, worldwide there are currently more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures due to the pandemic.

With this sudden shift away from the classroom in many parts of the globe, some are wondering whether the adoption of online learning will continue to persist post-pandemic, and how such a shift would impact worldwide education.

Some believe that the unplanned and rapid move to online learning – with no training, insufficient bandwidth, and little preparation – will result in a poor user experience that is unconducive to sustained growth, others believe that a new hybrid model of education will emerge, with significant benefits.

There are, however, challenges to overcome. Some students without reliable internet access and/or technology struggle to participate in digital learning; this gap is seen across countries and between income brackets within countries.

Keeping up with the new dynamics of distance learning has been a really big point of concern for parents, teachers, schools, and education systems, which, in general, were not prepared for such a rapid and radical shift in a traditional learning culture, which was mainly based on in-person teaching.

In fact, according to several experts, if we analyze what happened in 2020 in education, we can hardly talk about advances in learning, especially among younger children. 

One of the many lessons of the pandemic is the need to incorporate technology into education systems, closing gaps in access to connectivity and devices for students in more vulnerable conditions, and empowering teachers to get the most out of these tools. In fact, the use of technology should be present in education in both online and face-to-face formats.

Opportunities, therefore, require re-engineering teaching processes and learning that the relationship between students and teachers is not determined solely by the presence in a classroom, but by the creation of flexible and enriched educational environments. This entails, inter alia, the use of online and interactive resources, and requires additional efforts by countries to build the capacities of teachers and schools.

Another opportunity is the redesign of the school-community relationship, giving schools greater autonomy based on the provision of the necessary tools to help principals exercise their pedagogical leadership.

The internet penetration in India is making steady inroads into urban as well as rural areas, and approximately 73.3% of the country’s population is said to be connected by mobile phones, but the utilization of digital resources especially in mainstream education has remained virtually unexplored as of now. Secondly, dissemination of learning through a digital portal would require access to a laptop/computer for the students, which given the disparity amongst the socio-economic strata, remains unattainable for students belonging to low-income groups.

Children with disabilities (CWD) find themselves in a more disadvantaged situation with the suspension of their educational and vocational activities in the wake of this pandemic. Children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and intellectual disability require regular occupational, speech, and behavior therapy. Most centers for special education in India are not geared to provide their services through digital platforms or home-based interventions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has grown from being a public health crisis to an overarching humanitarian crisis demanding strong social welfare measures to mitigate its adverse consequences. The education sector in India is one important area that has been severely affected by the lockdown and restrictions that are required to slow down the disease transmission

This has created an unprecedented crisis in the education sector for students as well as educators regarding the continuation of educational services, conducting assessments, and catering to the needs of special education and vocational rehabilitation.