Will the session 2020-21 be declared an academic zero year?

It’s July already? Dang, we are halfway through the academic year and

personally I don’t know shit. All that I am doing is scrolling through Instagram while the teacher’s voice serves as background music for me. We have all been ranting about, “Why don’t they just cancel the year?”Welp, this is what we will talk about. Would it be a wise decision?

Forget about physical classes, it’s the last solution one would opt. Currently, India has just started its peak and we all know, with the lockdown easing down, the situation is getting worse. In simple words, we won’t make it to a New Year party. Perhaps there is no use of one celebrating too. This year is a waste academically.

No doubt, the schools and teachers, who are equipped enough, are putting all their efforts in online classes but is it really going to imbibe the same amount of learning? What about the mental trauma? Accessibility? Will sitting in front of the screen do anything except damage their eyes?

There’s not just Lack of accreditation & quality assurance in online education but also more work and strict discipline. Only three coastal districts of Odisha have been able to access digital learning and in many schools, it has been limited to WhatsApp forwards from the educational department. Many

students were forced to buy phones/laptops amidst a pandemic risking their lives. A student in Kerala committed suicide earlier this month because of this very education system.

There is no alternative to classroom learning. Digital learning can only be used as a complementary tool, but it cannot be considered a substitute, It’s ridiculous. The criticism this might get has a solution. The remaining year can be utilised through online methodology in a way that academics isn’t taught but basic survival necessary skills are. Which in fact is the need of the hour? A year won’t

go waste with children not grasping anything about alpha beta gamma, they will learn lifelong skills. The education experts in India have already said that 2020-2021 should be declared a zero-academic year. It’s the only logical option. All we can do is wait to see what’s in the unpredictable store for uh.

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Writer: Mokshada Marwaha