Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on School Education in Manipur, India

Keywords: School Education, Learning Loss, Covid-19, Manipur, Interaction
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

The sudden outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic affected the entire world and all educational institutions including schools, colleges, and universities have been closed down since March 2020. The closures of institutions affected millions of students from pre-primary to secondary to university levels. It is estimated that the closure of institutions in India affected 320 million students. Though new methods of teaching and learning were adopted during the pandemic, large sections of students were left out. The transition from the traditional face-to-face teaching method to online mode created a vast divide due to economic conditions, geographical location, and access to technology. In light of the above, the present study examines the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on school education in Manipur. The study also highlights the constraints and challenges faced by students during the pandemic and how to overcome such situations to compensate for the learning loss. It is primarily based on the primary survey conducted through google forms and also secondary-based literature. It is found that there is a massive loss of learning among students due to the closure of schools and perhaps more among the students belonging to lower strata of society. The different factors that impacted education include income, residence, lack of devices, poor connectivity, lack of engagement and interaction among students and teachers, and sudden transition to online mode created difficulty among students and teachers to connect disrupting the online classrooms. Different measures should be taken to compensate for the loss of learning among students.