Rat race for webinars

Since the lockdown was first announced, schools, colleges and universities were abruptly shut down and academics came to a standstill. Since then, many have adapted to online classes and this looks likely to be the scenario for the foreseeable future. During this time, webinars on various topics have been conducted and it was a welcome change. But the situation has rather turned grim as collecting certificates from these webinars, rather than gaining knowledge, seems to be the priority. Also, some webinars have been so poorly conducted that it seems such webinars were done by the institutions just to be in the picture. As always, this has started a vicious rat race of collecting certificates, rather than focusing on enhancing knowledge and skills. What is more troubling is that not everyone has the means to be able to attend such webinars and online classes and this has created a disparity among students. This sort of undue pressure during such perilous times has posed mental health concerns as a lot of suicides are being reported.

Thus concluding, I would like to say that these are unprecedented times and the mental and physical well-being of the students must be a priority. When there is so much uncertainty surrounding everything, undue pressure created by this race to collect more and more certificates rather than the knowledge on offer, has to be kept in check. Education is a fundamental right for everyone and thus, no one should be left behind. If this scenario has to continue, there should be a proper systematic organization of the process of imparting knowledge online. No student should feel pressurized or be denied of education.

Soumyadeep Das,

Ulubari, Guwahati.