The Covid-19 Pandemic Opportunities And Challenges

Covid-19 has created a great havoc in these 2 years. From education to the health sector, every section has faced a great loss in its field. In between these 2 years, we have lost millions of lives from the covid 19 pandemic. Every section of society has faced challenges and consequences of COVID-19, whether it is the primary sector, secondary sector, or tertiary sector of the economy. 

One of the largest sectors that covid has affected and is still affecting is the Education sector. The future of today’s students is at stake due to covid. If today the children do not get proper study and guidance from teachers, then the future of India will be in danger. We say that the future of a country depends on its students, so the perfection of students in the education field is very necessary for a country's development. In the education field, one of the biggest challenges is to deal with online classes and the consequences faced by students and teachers due to the lack of offline classes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, students were not able to go to school and colleges and attend the offline class. Schools and colleges in different states were closed due to the lockdown. Even after the unlocking, Schools and colleges were closed for a long time. Offices and other job sectors started reopening after the unlocking but schools, universities, and institutions remained closed for many days. This was done to ensure the safety of students because they were not vaccinated. This affected the lives of millions of students.

Now, if we talk about the major challenges of online classes, then it is the lack of integrity in online classes. When students are taking online classes, there are a lot of disturbances that distract students. Many students don’t take online classes seriously and even miss online classes. The attendance of students taking online classes was very low as compared to offline classes.

We know very well how sincerely a student studies in online classes. At one time, students take online classes and at the same time, they also use social media apps and do other activities during the class. We have seen many viral YouTube videos in which we see the fun doings of students during online classes. In online classes, teachers are mainly unaware of what students are doing in the class. This creates a lack of discipline in the environment among children.

Now, another challenge we face during online classes is less connectivity with teachers. During online classes, there is a lack of physical demonstration by teachers. Many topics need physical demonstration by teachers. Also, there is practical and lab work which are very essential for improving a student’s skills. Due to the absence of offline classes, children are not getting practical knowledge.

Online classes are also grabbing the opportunity for a child to develop socially. A small child learns a lot when he or she is physically present in the school and interacts with other children. A child learns to make friends, talk properly, behave properly, speak, sing, dance, play sports, and many other things in school. His interaction with teachers and friends helps him a lot to improve. This increases the social interaction of a child which helps him to develop. We know very well that if a person wants to develop, then he should develop both socially and mentally.

Another problem in conducting online classes is that not every child in India has a good smartphone and a good Internet connection. Online classes are very easy for students who have good laptops, and good smartphones. But there are still lakhs of students who do not have a smartphone. Many villages in India don't have an internet connection. Thus students living in their areas cannot attend online classes.

Now if we talk about other challenges in the COVID period, then it is the delay of examinations and delayed academic sessions. During COVID, we have seen many board exams getting canceled. This has affected a lot of students. For example, CBSE in 2020 announced 10th board exam results based on internal exams. During this, Some students were satisfied with their scores and some were dissatisfied. Some students were fully prepared for the 10th board exam but they were not able to take the exam due to covid. So, this was so disheartening to see the student's future going towards uncertainty.

Many national level exams like JEE Mains and Pre, NEET UG and PG, UPSC Mains, and Pre, Clat exam, and many more got postponed and delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Almost 1 year of students have gone into wastage due to this pandemic. Cancellation and delaying of exams resulted in delay of academic session. Every year, we need a large number of doctors in India, but due to delays in academic sessions of medical colleges, the health sector also faces severe losses. Lakhs of  Students preparing for competitive exams for many years have gone through depression and anxiety due to delays in exams. Some also did suicide because of depression.

One of the biggest challenges during lockdown was the financial crisis. Almost every family in India faces this problem in their homes. When everything from schools, factories, companies, and public transport was closed, there was no means of financial help for poor and labor-class people. Many people lost their jobs in lockdown. Many did suicide due to depression and financial crises. However, the government provided a certain amount of financial help for laborers but that was not enough. Also during this time, private schools were demanding full fees from students, regardless of whether the school was open or not.  

Talking about the various opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic, this coronavirus has generated a lot of opportunities for people to become financially independent. Today, the increasing cases of corona have made a mask a business. The primary precaution of COVID-19 is to wear a mask. So today many big companies are bringing new types and designs of masks to the market. By doing this, companies are creating a strong brand image in the market and are earning lakhs. Small workers are also selling cotton masks on roadsides. This has created an employment opportunity for small laborers and workers. Today, every type of mask is available in the market, whether it is an N-95 mask, cotton mask, designer mask, or a simple 5 rupee mask. Thus the need for masks has created a large number of employment opportunities for people.

Many opportunities have also originated in the education sector during the pandemic. Many teachers opened their YouTube channels and started posting videos related to studies. This helped them a lot to earn money during lockdown. Also, teachers started working on many educational websites, where their work was to solve the doubts of Students. They also started teaching in online educational institutes. All these were the new opportunities for teachers during covid 19.

During covid 19, people were locked in their homes for many months. This helped people in self-evaluating themselves. The lockdown helped people enhance their skills and allowed them to spend time with their families. In this busy world, it is very difficult for a person to spend quality time with family. So, the lockdown and covid made the family members more close to each other. Also during COVID-19, people got to study their favorite books, watch their favorite movies, and do more things.

It was possible only because of covid pandemic and lockdown, that people got to learn about their traditional values through Ramayana and Mahabharata. During the lockdown, the government of India announced the broadcasting of hit TV shows Ramayana and Mahabharata on Doordarshan channel. Old people revisited their memories by watching these shows, children learned traditional values and got knowledge from these shows. Both these shows, Ramayana and Mahabharata created a golden opportunity for Doordarshan TV to earn a blockbuster TRP and good money. These TV shows become highly popular among all age groups in India. Following the success of Ramayana and Mahabharata on Doordarshan, Star Plus and Colors TV also started broadcasting Ramayana and Mahabharata respectively. 

One of the biggest platforms developed during covid 19 is the OTT platform. OTT which means Over The Top is a digital media where we watch different types of audio-visual content like movies, serials, web series, etc. OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, MX player, and Alt Balaji became highly popular among audiences. During lockdown, these OTT platforms were the biggest source of entertainment for people. Many big movies were also released on OTT platforms because cinema halls were closed. These OTT platforms earned a huge amount of money during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus it was a golden opportunity for OTT platforms to shine during COVID and lockdown and OTT platforms used this opportunity very well to earn money and shine among audiences.

At least, we can say that people have faced a lot of challenges during covid 19 and are still facing challenges. India has already faced 2 waves of corona and now the third wave is going on. The Advent of Omicron in India has brought new challenges for people. It seems, that in the next few days, again the lockdown will be implemented in India. So the season of COVID and lockdown will come and go, but between this, all we have to focus on is to grab opportunities to develop.