Education is one of the unnoticed, hugely hit sector in tough times of COVID-19. Most of the educational institutions in India would be functioning under a trust or a society which would have been formed for a purpose of imparting education as a service. Though Education falls under service sector which normally should not have a for-profit motto, the sector itself demands a hefty operational cost every month including salary, maintenance, rents, loan repayments(if applicable), utility expenses and statutory expenses etc..
The Government is keen in providing benefits to all the MSME sector industries hit due to COVID-19 pandemic. The Educational institutions will never fall under the MSME sector and hence the benefits are denied from bankers for the trust or society. More pathetic situation is,
when such institutions approach the bankers for mortgage/term loan pledging their institutional buildings to bail themselves out from the situation, the bankers are not ready to attach the institutional property as collateral security.
“The Educational Institutions would definitely run out of cash if the lockdown measures continue for this sector.“
Recovery:
Even in these tough times, the educational institutions are striving hard for retention by
- engaging the students,
- leveraging online classes,
- giving motivational speeches,
- providing assignments,
- teaching life skills,
- conducting ‘stay @home’ games and
- connecting alumni to share their domain knowledge.
The Educational Institutions would definitely run out of cash if the lockdown measures continue for this sector. The organizations who generate revenue from diversified sectors may manage the situation which is exceptional. Every management should be thankful to the dedicated faculty members who are selfless in serving and engage their students out of self-interest.
The online classes conducted by the Educational Institutions are a fantasy gimmick which is not actually serving the purpose to most of the audience, but being the burden to many parents and households with two or more children. The basic infrastructure to afford and accept the online mode training should be developed among the target audience.
Education is still an evergreen sector which will always be strong pillars in building the nation in all the aspects and sectors. We request the Government to heed to our concerns and enable us for a smooth functioning and quality teaching/learning regardless of lockdown situation.
Pros and Cons:
The positive side of the education sector post COVID-19 is
- The colleges, constituent colleges and community colleges in the rural areas and semi-urban areas will capitalize the admissions around its locality without fail.
- The students from tier II and tier III towns will soon witness the modern tech learning, future skills and other advanced learning services at their doorstep as the education companies focus will makeshift to the rural(tier II and III) in coming years.
- Online training infrastructure will soon be developed and streamlined to reach even the remote areas of the country. This takes the education of their choice to all the people of the country regardless of their hailing locality.
The negative side of the education sector post COVID-19 is
- The colleges mostly populated in the urban cities would face a drop in admissions after this pandemic situation as the people will be hesitant in migrating from their native atleast for the next couple of years.
- The students will be facing many difficulties in adapting to the new normal. The earnings of most common people will be lesser for the next few months which will push the parents to unaffordable situation.
- The fee collection in Education industry will see a deficit in coming months which may affect the quality of education from the institutions.
Solution:
There are enormous ways out to get back to the normal life in education sector, which hopefully government is also working with its experts committee. We, being in industry have few suggestions and place our solutions as below.
a) Schools/Colleges can start running onsite classes alternate days and allow half of their crowd in a day.
For Example, we have 1000 students in a school where we can invite 500 students(cycle 1) in Monday, Wednesday, Friday and other 500 students(cycle 2) in Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. We can engage the students with assignments, activities, and case studies when they are in home. This will safeguard the students by physical distancing and definitely make a change in the mindsets of students that school
is not the only place to learn. It is their inner minds and thoughts which learn.
b) Colleges could allow students to come in 2 to 3 shifts in a day.
i) Morning – 7 am to 11 am
ii) Noon – 11 am to 3 pm
iii) Evening – 3 pm to 7 pm
This would further improve their punctuality and time management. The students can make use of libraries, sports activities, gym and other facilities in the college premises before/after their shift timings.
c) Vocational training providers and skill development training providers can start decentralizing their center locations from urban to rural areas so as to reach the beneficiaries in their locality. This will certainly ensure physical distancing, benefits the students to get training in their locality, and enables the training providers to set up a low-cost infrastructure.
d) Short term course training providers for a period within one year can opt for an online mode of training and conduct a fool-proof assessment towards the end of the training. The Government will also be ready to support the training providers in this sector. The training providers most importantly has to ensure whether the candidate
