Anum Rashid
THE world is passing through chaotic times as Covid-19 has obliterated the entire systems around the globe. This microscopic virus has engulfed all the continents ruthlessly. Education sector is one of the sectors that has hit hard because of COVID-19.According to the recent UNICEF report the worldwide closure of educational institutions affects 463 million children, and they were unable to access remote learning during the entire period. The disrupted educational activities for months resulted in a global learning crisis, and consequences could be felt in nations in the future. In a developing country like Pakistan the impact is more acute because of paucity of resources, and feeble online system. Pakistan is one of the countries in which by the grace of omnipotent God cases and fatalities are nose-diving in comparison to European, and Latin American countries that paves the way for reopening of educational institutes and revival of educational activities after the closure for six months. The decision to reopen the educational institutions by the government is a welcome move and bring jubilations among all the stakeholders, but to keep them open we must take some stern measures.
The nomenclature of Standard Operating Procedures is reaching the ears of everyone during the past six months, and that may vary from sector to sector at the stepwise reopening of multifarious sectors. The violation of SOPs in some sectors resulted in the skyrocketed cases as witnessed in the past. Once again before opening of educational institutions the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination has devised SOPs, and forwarded them to the concerned authorities, but the real success lies in their strict implementation for avoiding unforeseeable circumstances. We must acclimatize ourselves that the things will not be the same as of pre-Covid times and are much altered now. There is a need to train our mind that implementation of SOPs is very imperative if we want to keep going the educational activities and don’t want any relapsed. Some of the SOPs that should be implemented in full are summarized as follows.
Firstly, no individual should be allowed to enter the premises of the educational institutions without wearing the mask. Secondly there should be mandatory thermal checks at the entrance points. Thirdly there should be a frequent use of sanitizers. Fourthly the classrooms should be properly sanitized and well ventilated. Fifthly there should be a random testing after two weeks of reopening to trace the trend. Sixthly there should be proper staggering of the classes for curtailing the interaction. Seventhly there should be complete closure of the extra co-curricular activities to keep the educational activities going as it is the need of the hour. Lastly, one of the important SOPs is to avoid handshake and embracing each other.
The role of government is not ending by just making the SOPs and distributing the booklets of SOPs. It is not about paying lip service, but it is much more than that. The implementation teams should be devised by the concerned authorities and make regular visits to educational institutions to make sure the implementation of SOPs. Strict actions should be taken against the violators, and heavy penalty should be imposed. Furthermore, the budgetary allocation in education sector is always on lower trajectory, and most of the time the educational institutions are facing the dearth of financial resources. In this troublesome time, it is the responsibility of the government to provide stimulus packages as much more resources are required for implementation of SOPs. One of the important SOPs is staggering of classes for keeping the social distance, but the fact should be kept in mind that segregation of classes requires additional faculty. Availing the services of the current faculty without new hiring is overburdening the faculty and will affect the quality of education.
Education sector, being the first one to close and last one to open, needs special attention during this difficult time. The role of every individual is very important to keep the educational activities going. Faculty members should play the role as their words carry more power and weight. There is a need to frequently inculcate in the minds of students to follow the Standard Operating Procedures for the continuation of educational activities. In case of schools only senior classes are called for on campus classes, and in case of universities the first and the final semesters are called for the classes at the undergrad level in most of the universities. Still there is a huge lot of students who still are unable to access the on-campus classes. The responsible attitude and implementation of SOPs can revive educational activities for all, and bring the level playing field. It should be kept in mind that the pandemic period is not over, we have to mend our ways to live with that. The callous attitude can prove to be a death blow for education sector.
—The writer is Lecturer at PMAS, ARID University, Rawalpindi.