Weighing the pros and cons

Blessed with a witty mind, I was never worried about my grades. A little revision of classwork everyday was what I needed to score well. Every thing was going on smoothly when suddenly COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on education system around the world, affecting not only me but also approximately 1.6 billion students across the globe.

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Gradually, my scores declined. I often found myself struggling to find the right word while writing a paragraph, whereas I once was my teachers’ first choice for creative writing competitions.

Although the 2020-21 academic year ended on a high note-with rising vaccination rates, outdoor in-person graduations, and access to at least some in-person learning for 98 per cent of students, it was, on the whole, perhaps one of the most challenging times in the history for educators and students.

However, as India’s COVID situation improved, schools were gradually reopened with COVID-19 precautions in place.

However, the students have been accustomed to online education over the past two years and many are finding it difficult to transition from online to in-person learning.

Earlier, students used to attend classes in a carefree mood sitting wherever they pleased, but now Covid protocol has to be kept in mind at all times whether inside the class or in the playground or canteen. Having to wake up early and getting dressed in uniform to go to school, too, is a chore now.

Online classes were interesting in the beginning, but soon I realised that going to school was way better. We could only see the face of the teacher during online sessions, soon the eyes got tired and we missed the human interaction.

We, no longer, need to sit before our computer screens for hours to attend lectures.

Instead, we can communicate with our teachers face-to-face and get our queries answered. No internet issue bothers me now. I am no longer plagued by the ifs and buts that have affected my studies over the past two years.

Furthermore, the in-person studies have reawakened the virtues of honesty, sincerity, discipline, and punctuality and guided the students away from deceptive methods of passing exams.

To summarise, I would like to say that while I, too, struggle with the habits that I have developed over the past two years, I am confident that I will overcome them and return to the path, I was on, before COVID entered the picture.

Pahulpreet Singh, Class VIII, Holy Heart Presidency School, Amritsar