Covid-19 and Educational System in Pakistan

Going through this time of pandemic has become quite encumbrance on the Pakistani educational system. The system which was already struggling to stand on its feet is on the verge of its last gasps now. I remember my university days when I was told by my teachers that education means to bring about positive changes in the behaviour of a person. I, being an educationist, find myself struggling to see it crumpled under our feet. No doubt, we have not been successful in rejuvenating our educational system and bringing it at par with the international standards. Simultaneously, we have failed to inculcate pleasant and healthy attitude in our students.

Today, teachers are struggling to teach online because they were never trained to conduct classes through online platforms. Second, we failed to equip our teachers with modern gadgets such as laptops, etc. at university level and what to talk about college and school levels. Moreover, no extra online teaching allowance was given to them. They had to manage online data on their own. Third, our universities and colleges did not set up LMS (learning management system) and those who did so, did not have the capacity to bear the load once thousands of teachers and students came online for taking classes and conducting the exam.

Moreover, the attitude of the teachers and students have been quite pitiful. Some teachers are not interested in teaching online, and some students do not want to learn online. In a country like Pakistan, having a stressful economic system, could not build up the infrastructure to cope with and work under this strained time. Today, students are on roads, protesting against the decision of the universities to take exams on campus and insisting to sit on exams online. They know it well that universities have no mechanisms to catch them cheating during online exams. They should realize that by indulging themselves in such meaningless activities, they are actually playing with their future.

8808727. is a dire need to amend ourselves and then the systems we are running in our beloved country. We need to take concrete steps such as equipping our teachers and the universities with modern gadgets. We need to train our teachers to teach online. We must build the infrastructure of our universities to cope with situations such as pandemics and emergencies. Last but not least, students need to understand that their job is to study and pay full head to it because their parents have paid for it. They have to invest their time in educational activities so that they may prosper in life.