South Asian countries are mostly accustomed to facing natural disasters like flood, cyclone, tornado, tidal surge, river erosion and earthquake before COVID-19 fatally infects every corner of these countries. South Asian nations for the first time experienced severe adverse effects on education due to closure of educational institutions for a long time. No other natural disasters had long time shatter or dissolution in learning of students as is seen in case of the pandemic. It annihilated students' learning massively.
As education is the key to development, therefore by any means learning among
learners should be continued amidst emergency. Before being affected by COVID,
education in emergency situations might be considered during natural
calamities. But the pandemic, treating also as an emergency compelled policy
makers to develop innovative plans for continuing education. Closure of
educational institutions due to COVID results fatal losses in learning. The aftermath
of losses in learning may become costly to keep wheels of overall development
into the right momentum later to south Asian countries.
So, considering pandemic and other natural disasters as emergencies, policy
makers need to chalk-out compatible and implementable plans and develop a
skilled and committed workforces in the education sector for keeping students
in learning all the year round. To continue students in the learning process
during an emergency, front liners (teachers and education managers/administrators)
need to develop professionalism. In addition, construction or renovation of
infra-structural facilities, providing of emergency resilient learning friendly
materials or supports, empowering front liners in developing and implanting
need based plans etc are to be ensured during emergencies for continuing
education.
The pandemic realized rigorously how important it is to develop professionalism
in teachers and administrators in the education sector. Educational
institutions have been closed since the inception of COVID-19 transmission.
Students are out of face-to-face learning for a long period although
governments of south Asian countries have been introducing remote learning
methods as well as offline initiatives to keep students in the learning
process. The pandemic was totally an unexpected and puzzling challenge in the
education sector. Governments had no other alternatives to introduce online or
remote learning despite knowing the limitations of applying the method.
Impediments like absence of Internet connectivity at remote areas,
non-availability of digital devices to hundreds to thousands of students of
poor families, no or poor frequency of receiving lessons that has been
broadcasting on TV & radio alongside with absence of TV or radio at home of
poor families etc hinder to make governments’ initiatives a success. Rather,
introduced initiatives have been brought undesired discrimination towards
ensuring inclusive learning. As introduced, remote learning methods have no
access to a huge number of students, therefore some of the governments
(specifically Bangladesh) simultaneously adopted offline initiatives. But
success of introducing online and offline initiatives proves dissatisfactory as
some teachers are found having disinterest in imparting teaching by using
virtual sources. Moreover, some teachers have the apathy to visit students’
homes with the assignments/worksheets (offline initiative) to support students
in clarifying their understanding. A significant number of students completed
or submitted home based activities with poor or no learning. Parents and
guardians hardly have seen teachers encourage them to support kids to use
digital devices for remote learning. But once upon a time parents witnessed
primary and secondary school teachers’ commitment and rapport building attitude
who had the only mission of ensuring learning of students by visiting home and
consulting parents. Although they didn’t have the highest level of educational
qualifications and training on teaching-learning, they had invisible
professionalism. The pandemic reminded parents of the then teachers’
professional attitude and felt a fatal absence of professionalism among
nowadays teachers.
Parents and guardians have also been observing poor quality professionalism
among education administrators/managers. They have been failing to motivate
teachers and parents to work simultaneously for successful implementation of
introduced blended methods of online and offline initiatives minimizing the
challenges by utilizing existing resources. Professionalism helps
administrators become proactive to motivate teachers to perform duties with
missionary attitude during emergencies.
Other forms of emergencies that also have disruption to students’ learning with
less intensity compared to the pandemic. So, education in emergency
indispensably requires professionalism within teachers and education managers.
Discerning parents and stakeholders firmly believe that developing only
professionalism in teachers and administrators may fulfil their expectations
mostly to maintain continuity of learning during an emergency. Professionalism
in education goes beyond a checklist of requirements. Instead, it includes
ability, integrity and ethical values that may help in performing duties effectively.
Professionalism fosters a strong belief to satisfy stakeholders' expectations
of professionals regarding offspring’s disruption free learning.
Both pandemic and other short-time emergencies demand launching of “Home and
Neighbourhood Schooling” facilitated by parents/knowledgeable relatives and
local volunteers/higher class students/ retired teachers or service holders
respectively and monitored/guided by teachers of nearby educational
institutions. In addition, providing of emergency resilient learning friendly
materials and infra-structural support such as construction of temporary
classrooms or renovation of classrooms/furniture, supplying of laminated books
& learning materials to learners and providing of schools with boat regards
to ensure teachers’ visit to Home or Neighbourhood Schools for supporting
students with a view to mitigate learning losses during flood, tidal surge,
river erosion and cyclone is crucial. On the other hand, introducing self-study
learning package on core subjects for learners, guidebook for
instructor/facilitator of Home or Neighbourhood Schooling, providing of digital
devices to poor families students & smooth Internet connectivity to every
parts of the countries towards ensuring inclusive access to remote learning during
pandemic might have efficacy to keep students in learning. A dedicated TV
channel on education and inclusive broadcasting of education in radio may
be launched and access of these remote learning sources to students must be
ensured.
Education in an emergency inevitably requires capacity building of teachers and
education managers to develop need based emergency resilient plans and make
sure of providing them monetary support along with available resources for
implementation of plans.
Md Bayazid Khan
The writer works for primary
education in Bangladesh.
