COVID-19: How Higher Education Institutions can Turn Challenges Into Opportunities

“Everyone faces challenges in life. It’s a matter of how you learn to overcome them and use them to your advantage.” Celestine Chua

By now Covid-19 has taken billions of lives across the world.

The sad reality is the numbers are expected to rise further by the upcoming months.

You know, when the virus entered India and cases began to be detected in the month of March, nobody had the slightest clue that ‘Quarantine’, ‘Alcohol Sanitizers’, ‘Social Distancing’ will become power words of vocabulary leading us to the worst days.

Since kids fell under the category of people who are most likely to get distressed, the education sector became the first industry to be shut down. And because I work with education institutions closely, I have seen how badly the virus has impacted the world of teaching-learning. The majority of the student population has been deprived of quality education due to nationwide shutdowns.

While nothing seems to be working in favor of the student community in the past couple of months, e-learning has emerged as a silver lining in the dark clouds of Corona.

# Initiative by the Human Resource Department

Thankfully, online learning has now started gaining momentum in India. And in the wake of CoronaVirus pandemic, Honorable Union Human Resource Department Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ held a live webinar on 28th of May at 3 PM through official social media channels - Twitter Handle and Facebook Page. He addressed the heads of nearly 45,000 HEIs in the session organized by the highly reputed accreditation agency NAAC-National Assessment and Accreditation Council. Shedding light on the current situation, he asked educators & K12 faculty not to worry about the academic continuity of the institution & start the virtual teaching-learning journey confidently.

The central theme of the session directed towards conveying the distance learning benefits was more or less focused on the ‘Acharya Devo Bhava’ mantra & students who don’t have proper learning facilities.

“Online learning has been developed across institutes. However, there are still a lot of students who don't have access to the internet or don't have computers, smart-phones, and tablets. But they need not worry as we are making available content through our Direct-to-Home (DTH) channels and may also use radio services to impart education," He articulated.

In addition to this, the HRD department is also promoting 'Study in India' programs so that more emphasis is given to e-learning & associated research work to help students not just in India, but across the globe.

# The Bottom Line?

The government is proactively taking every possible step to make sure every student gets quality education despite the problems. As a stakeholder, you must also co-operate and accept the fact that the transition which is happening now is not something that will stay until the virus attack; it is going to stay for the long-term. It is the future of education.

# What Educators Need to Do?

As a responsible educator, you should embrace the change in the educational landscape.

Promptly introduce edTech enriched with online assessment tools & e-learning modules. It will empower your institution by aiding the following facilities -

• Online Assessments and Assignments
• Online Teaching Plans and Syllabus Sharing Provision
• Enables Teachers to Upload Engaging & Interactive e-content
• Mobile and Web Compatibility
• Teacher-Student Communication Channels & Forums

To be honest, COVID-19 doesn’t hold the power to weaken the education sector. It has just pushed you to adopt the latest technologies for delivering education.

I know it seems tedious. But it isn’t.

If you want to get around the teaching-learning changes, just focus on having an effective Learning Management System (LMS). Remember that - When the pillar is strong, nothing can shake the framework.

For any further assistance on the school ERP system software and e-learning tools, get in touch with my team today!

I hope it helps.