Muscat: As educational institutions all across the Sultanate remain closed due to the COVID-19, most schools have dived headlong into online learning.
Although decisions about the pedagogy came in a rush following pressure from educators, parents and students, the question now being asked is how good is the new learning environment?
While there are varying opinions over traditional and online learning, some surveys suggest that the remote education is going to accelerate changes in the education industry.
For those of who were trained to teach face-to-face classes till now, it is time to experience online education experiment while students who shied away from direct interactions can foster remote instruction.
In a first of its kind survey among teachers, a whopping 87 per cent felt that it was exceedingly appropriate for them to teach students through remote technology.
“Though majority of teaching fraternity misses the physical presence of their students, teachers’ ability to adapt to the new mode of teaching has been phenomenal despite the fact that they needed to spend at least 5-6 extra hours of preparation for each such session," a senior official in the Board of Directors of Indian Schools revealed.
School Management Committees across all Indian schools in Oman have been proactive in putting the e-learning strategies in place from the moment the closure of educational institutions was announced in the Sultanate following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What appeared to be the most encouraging sign is the positive feedback we received from the parent fraternity regarding their satisfaction over the entire process of e-learning initiatives of Indian Schools,” said the Board official.
The survey was conducted recently among teachers and parents of Indian school students.
More than 93.8 per cent of parents have expressed their utmost satisfaction over the remote learning.
“This overwhelming support from parents through their involvement and encouragement at this juncture is extremely crucial for the sustainability of community institutions such as Indian schools in Oman,” the official said.
According to him, this process of imparting education through remote teaching would continue till the time normalcy is restored so as to ensure that all Indian school students are academically at their best along with their counterparts across the globe.
However, some parents in a joint letter addressed to the Ministry of Education, expressed their reservations about the online classes although they are not against the new system of learning, pointing out the security issues involved in it.
According to them, some security breaches and unwanted videos pop up (hacking of classes) during online classes of Indian schools.
“We do not want our kids to be exposed to any restricted content", they said in the letter asking whether any official give an assurance against security breach or loss of data.
They also lament that their access to Internet is limited and due to this, at time, the online classes are disturbed.
Similarly, they say, “online classes for siblings also make it difficult as a parent to monitor them together and provide them with the laptops, phones at the same time."
Responding to their concern, the official clarified that such instances were very few and were at the start of the transition to online medium.
“Most schools are now utilising more secure and paid applications. Constructive feedback is taken on regular basis and improvement measures are done as soon as possible," he said.
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