One of the greatest gifts humans have is their ability to adapt to change. It would be fair to say that 2020 challenged this ability of ours and pushed us into an unknown territory. We were hit by Covid-19 from all directions possible; people lost loved ones, some lost jobs and all of us at some point lost our mind. We had to change quickly and drastically. The scariest part was the realisation that the changes were not a temporary adjustment but the new normal. Though every sector of the society is dealing with the after effects of the virus, the education sector had to transform itself right from scratch. Both, the students and the teachers had to unlearn all formal training with respect to learning and teaching. Let us not forget that the pandemic came right in the middle of the competitive exams. Schools were shut and 285 million young learners in India were left clueless in terms of what is next!

Initially, only a handful of private schools could adopt online teaching methods. But their counterparts, on the other hand, were completely shut down for not having access to e-learning solutions. But over the period of time the government and institutions together came up with means to digitalise the entire learning and teaching process. Open-source digital learning solutions and Learning management software helped teachers conduct classes online; one of the greatest examples is the DIKSHA platform. It has helped to integrate the Indian education system across various states. Though these changes took some time they equipped the stakeholders in the education sector with the latest technological tools.

On most days we cannot understand this but the pandemic has been a blessing in disguise. India is trying to digitalise itself for the past decade but the pandemic pushed us to fasten that process and upgrade our knowledge and skills. The chalk-talk teaching model was transformed to one driven with technology. Often the chalk-talk teaching has limitations in terms of being creative or for that matter explaining concepts with ease. But with technology the content is interactive, less tedious and more importantly, engaging. The Indian education system is the most diverse and largest in the world. Therefore, it is essential to establish quality assurance mechanisms that will ensure consistent and standard e-learning platforms for both, students and teachers across the country.

The new normal of the education system has empowered teachers by equipping them with all the necessary tools to make learning fun and interesting. It has also helped the students to express themselves clearly and without much hesitation. A student who would be uncomfortable expressing himself in a physical classroom is now able to state his doubts without much ado in a virtual class. Of course, we are all missing out on some physical interaction and students did have a tough time initially, grappling with the new system but guess what… We are getting there!

This is why we at Claylab constantly try to assist our students to get the best education irrespective of the situation; via using audio-visual tools, models, one on one counselling sessions and more. Having said that, we also recognise that academics is just a small part education, which is so much more. This is why we attempt to provide our students with all the necessary tools to develop their personality… for Pandemic or not, the show must go on!