Locked up at homes children’s virtual classes provide big relief to their parents
Zubair Qureshi
With more than two-months locked inside their homes due to coronavirus in the country children and their parents are turning to virtual classes to make up for their missing classes.
The trend is fast popularizing and the erstwhile ‘conventional’ teachers and the parents are now adapting themselves to this new mode of technology as medium of learning.
This online schooling/coaching has become a popular trend not only in big cities but also far-flung areas where, Internet was earlier being used only for entertainment or for using social media.
Naeem, a teacher of Chemistry in one of Islamabad’s local schools, while talking to Pakistan Observer on Wednesday said soon after the government’s decision to close down educational institutions in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in March this year, his biggest worry was how he would be able to prepare his 10th grade students for the annual examination.
“Being a semi-illiterate in use of modern technologies, I was profoundly shocked to learn that lockdown/closure of schools was not going to end shortly and would remain in place for at least two months,” shared Farooq his ordeal.
However, later following his school’s decision and on the advice of his colleagues to hold online classes for the students, Farooq decided to better his skills and expand his knowledge and expertise in use of technologies. “I have a smart phone with me but I largely used it to make what’s app calls to my brother in the US or to share pictures and videos etc,” said he.
However, now his smart phone has become the most useful tool to establish contact with his students for he is taking three to four online classes per day on this device to help his students make up for their deficiencies and attend regular classes. This is now as if we are having regular classes, he said. Not only higher class students, children at nursery and primary level are also attending online classes arranged by their respective schools.
A mother of two—Montessori and Class-I— kids, Afshan said it was a big relief to her when she received message from her children’s school that they were arranging online classes for them. Keeping the kids busy at home and that too in some productive task was quite an ordeal.
