Online classes: Students offhand, teachers at a loss

HYDERABAD: Online classes for the academic year 2021-22 are proving to be a huge challenge for teachers as students turn to be diverted, convinced that they will be promoted and under the impression that the situation is far from improving.

With this mindset, schoolteachers find that in a class of 25 students, only seven are attentive, 15 require to be reminded that they have to attend the classes and the remaining are not showing any interest.

Online classes for Class 1 to 12 have begun from July in SSC and CBSE schools and in the first month itself, the teachers have encountered several problems. With CBSE schools charting out an internal tests schedule which will evaluate the performance of children throughout the year, it has been noted that many are not taking it seriously.

Despite online counselling sessions for students and parents, the response is not as desired.

Dr Syed Shafiuddin Aijaz, a senior educationist, explains, "The students who have to appear in March 2022-23 are convinced that they do not need to prepare for exams as they shall be promoted like their seniors. Due to the ongoing pandemic, we find that there is hardly any motivation for the students and their focus from academics has shifted to social media. Many children are mesmerised by what they see on social media and exploring the world of the internet which gives them ideas far from reality."

Teachers say that they are facing umpteen challenges and often find that parents are not aware of the situation or they are not interested.

Take for example the case of CBSE schools where they had instructions to call on the parents whose children are not responding positively to online classes. Similarly, children have been taken in separate rooms and counselled online. In one such online session, there were children who revealed their hopelessness in times of Covid 19. A senior teacher and counsellor, on condition of anonymity, said, "There are bright students who do not require help from teachers, but are not able to communicate online.

These students complained about how they find it difficult to study in the prevailing conditions. Some of them believe that it will last for the next six years while others believe that it will not be over at all. These thoughts have got them confused and they are not sure if they must continue to put their efforts into studies."

These confusing thoughts got many educationists alarmed and the heads of different schools find that there is a need for students to take internal exams seriously. Despite guidelines from the CBSE, the children from Class 8 to 12 are yet to understand the importance of online studies.

Educationists are urging the students to be more proactive and alert about online classes and take each internal exam as seriously as offline exams.