Amity Journal of Management Amity Business School, Amity University Madhya Pradesh

Vol. VIII, No. 2, July-December 2020 ISSN: 2347-1832 (Print)| ISSN: 2581-5261 (Online)

A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ON COVID-19 PANDEMIC: AN

IMPACT ON SCHOOL EDUCATION IN INDIA

Ms. Toshika Pareek1 and Dr. Kiran Soni2

ABSTRACT

Education is the building block of any nation; it builds skills, habits, knowledge and mind of
the child. Any nation cannot afford the discontinuation of its education system. Health is also a
major concern for any nation and keeping its countrymen healthy is the responsibility of the
nation‟s government. The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has declared by WHO a
public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). In this paper, we are discussing
about covid-19 and its impact on school education in the Indian context and also the impact is
analyzed from a gender perspective. It is an empirical paper where a literature review is done
to understand the concept of Indian schools in the context of online education, the importance
of education and COVID 19 impacts on education from the perspective of parents, teachers,
and students. For this purpose, a total of 100 respondents were selected from public and private
sector schools of Udaipur. Data collection is done using structured questionnaires and analysis
is performed with the help of group statistics and independent sample test. Results of the study
disclosed that online classes are the best viable solution in situations like a pandemic and the
tool is embraced by both the gender stakeholders equally. However, a few critical aspects that
need a solution in this context are identified as trained and skilled teachers.

Keywords: Covid-19, School, Education, Online Classes, Virtual Classes

INTRODUCTION in the province of China. Right in the blink

The development of any nation is of an eye, it was transmitted to all other
impossible without education; it acts as a parts of the world. The WHO declared
key element for the development of mind of suddenly happening a Public Health
a person. A developed mind can only Emergency of International Concern
innovate and come up with new ideas and (PHEIC) On 30 January 2020 and after that
thoughts for a nation‟s development. We when this epidemic was transformed in
all know that “health is wealth.” i.e. health mostly all countries WHO announced
is everything a person wishes to have. A COVID-19 as pandemic on 12 March 2020.
healthy poor person is richer than a rich
person who has an unhealthy body. Most of the governments of all nations have
decided to temporarily close all schools,
Now a day whole world is fighting with a colleges and universities to diminish the
COVID 19 pandemic. COVID- 19 is also spreading of COVID 19. Educational
known as coronavirus disease here CO institutions cannot maintain social
stands for corona, VI stands for virus and distancing. Therefore it is compulsory to
19 because of this infection have come in temporary closure of schools and all
2019. It was originated in China in education institutions to maintain social
December 2019. The first case was found in distancing.
Wuhan city of china and after that, it spread
The spreading rate of COVID 19 is high in
children as compared to adults. In India as
1. Research Scholar, Geetanjali Institute of
per the following lockdown rules, all
Technical studies, Udaipur
institutions are closed from nursery level to
2. Associate Professor & Research Guide,
postgraduate level so their learning gets
Geetanjali Institute of Technical studies,
affected badly. According to the UNESCO
Udaipur

49
report, over 290 million students across 29 of information available to the public. All
countries are affected. Approximate 32 the causative causes, pathogenesis and
crore students (including school and immune responses, epidemiology,
college) are affecting, declared by the pathology, care and management, control
UNESCO. and preventive methods are discussed in
this literature review.
Owing to the present scenario teaching is
switching to the online platform. In every sector around the world, the
Sometimes some hurdles also come in influence of the COVID-19 pandemic is
online studying. Like internet connection shown. It has a severe impact on the
failure, disturbances at home environment, education industries both in India and
so many students are not able to do the around the world. It has put the global lock,
study on the online platform. Not only which has a very negative effect on the lives
private schools are adopting e-learning of the students. Approx. 32 Crore students
platforms but even government schools are affected by COVID-19 and all
also have to adopt e-learning platforms. educational activities in India were
Some online platforms are WebEx, Zoom, stopped. The COVID-19 epidemic has told
and Google classroom, Skype. us that transition is imminent. It has acted
as a catalyst to build and choose channels
By adopting these technology tools, our
and strategies not seen before the education
education will move from a teacher-centric
institutions. The education sector has
approach to a student-centric approach in
struggled for a new solution due to the
the future. These online tools will help
continuation of the crisis and has digitized
teachers and students to enhance their skills
to eradicate the pandemic threat. (Jena,
and develop their knowledge. Now we can
Pravat 2020).
say that this crisis is not only teaching us
how to fight this pandemic but also
The closing of schools because of
teaching us, how to make our future. The
prevention steps against COVID-19 has had
government of India has launched various
a detrimental effect on schooling, well
e-portal and apps to help the students like
being and the workings of all interested
SWAYAM, DIKSHA PORTAL, E-
parties and the educational structures of the
PATHSHALA, SMILE, STEM-based portals
country. While the transition to a distance
and many more.
or an online education has now become a
REVIEW OF LITERATURE component of many educational
An outbreak of coronavirus disease in 2019 institutions around the globe, a series of
(COVID-19) due to a novel Severe acute variables are expected to contribute to the
respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was consistency of the educational institutions,
identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, teachers, parents and students in
China, in early December 2019, according to accordance with the changes in their
Harapan, & Itoh, 2020 et al. In a public emotional condition. HyseniDuraku,
health emergency of international Linda, Zamira & Hoxha, (2020) in a study
significance the World Health Organization analyzed and illustrate the issues of pupils,
announced the outbreak on 30 January parents and teachers about social exclusion
2020. 49,053 laboratory-confirmed deaths conditions and teachers' and parents' views
and 1,381 global deaths were recorded as of of remote or online education.
February 14, 2020.
The qualitative nature of the analysis was
Many countries have been led to adopt followed. The case study analysis technique
various prevention measures because of the was used in the context of this study. Semi-
perceived risk of disease. To summarise formal interviews with (N = 13) parents and
awareness of the pathogen and existing (N = 11) teachers were used for data
epidemic, we carried out a literature review collection. The participants in the study
were active members of public institutions

50
pre-university inside (n=14) cities of (n=7) Our child can learn better when he/she
Kosovo regions. The results of this study interacts with teachers and peers in a
suggest that a number of worries have physical classroom. They can develop their
arisen between pupils, parents and teachers social life and they can learn more
in Kosovo as a result of the spread of the effectively. Due to this COVID-19
COVID-19, including changes in education. pandemic, most of the countries have close
The results of the analysis affirm the shared their schools, colleges and universities. It
worries of both reporting parties with seems like students' growth just stopped in
respect to the evaluation, worries and the way. But due to the awareness of our
overload of their pupils and estimates of government, students are getting their
the inconsistency of the learning that has so education by online mode. In this way,
far been carried out. The outcomes of this their learning is becoming an ongoing
study confirm teachers' desire and incentive process without interruption.
to increase their expertise and awareness
and to contribute to improving education There are some advantages and
efficiency. It also provides resources to disadvantages that are seen in India for
advance online learning content, teacher, digital learning in the COVID-19 period.
parents and family support, along with
Advantages of digital learning in COVID-
realistic advice for educational
19 period-
stakeholders.
1. Learning is becoming more interesting,
All India council of technical education effective and personalized.
(AICTE) has allowanced forty one e- 2. Improve the quality of education in
learning platform list by this student can
India from the future point of view.
learn easily in this pandemic period. These
are SWAYAM online courses, 3. Teachers are also enhancing their e-
SWAYAMPRABHA, National Digital learning modules.
Library, e-kalpa, e-shodhsindhu, SMILE, 4. It is better than traditional learning.
NCERT Text Books from class 1 to 12 and
many more. 5. It is cost-effective.
6. No geographical boundaries for
Rajasthan government has launched a
learning.
project SMILE (social media interface
learning engagement). This is a digital 7. No time restriction for learning.
platform that can be accessed by many 8. Face to face interaction with teacher
other social media platforms. From this and students.
project, all government schools in Rajasthan
can provide online education. Near about 9. Conveyance fees and time-saving.
twenty thousand Whatsup groups are
made to provide online study materials and Disadvantages of digital learning in
videos from class 1st to 12th. COVID-19 period-
1. In rural areas students have no proper
COVID-19 AND EDUCATION resources.
First school of the child is home and first
2. Lack of knowledge to parents about
teacher is mother. But we know that if we
technology.
want to develop our child's social life and
productivity so we need to send them to 3. Government of India facing
school. For our economic growth schools difficulties due to a shortage of
are increasing children's social awareness, budget.
skills, and ability in fun ways. Only a short
4. Teachers should be very friendly with
time children spend in school and learn
technology.
more things.
5. No studying environment find at
home.
51
6. Students are sometimes distracted by suited methods to perform the future
games, social media and so on. researches in the right manner.
7. Different level of students need a
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
different type of digital classes.
The study's findings are focused on
8. No written work provides. respondents ' answers in a certain area. This
9. Content should be maintained and research would help to get an insight into
secure from hacking. respondents' understanding of online
schooling and its influence on the wellbeing
10. Effective assessment cannot be taken of their pupils with reference to the gender
on an online platform. of respondents.

Precautions - after lockdown for schools HYPOTHESIS

HRD minister MR. Ramesh Pokhriyal has H01:- There is no significant difference
announced some guidelines that should be between the perception of male and
carefully obeyed by schools after lockdown. female respondents about the impact of
online teaching during covid-19 pandemic.
1. No assembly session, seminars for a
long time H11:- There is a significant difference
2. Only 30% of school strength should be between the perception of male and
allowed in a day female respondents about the impact of
online teaching during covid-19 pandemic.
3. School should be work in two shifts
4. 6 feet distance between students RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
For research, data was collected from
5. 10 students in 500 square feet students, teachers and parents of public and
classroom private institutes of the Udaipur region of
6. For the student there is an option to Rajasthan. A total of 100 respondents were
study at home. selected by the convenience sampling
procedure. The study has made the use of
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: only primary data for achieving the
1. To analyse the COVID-19 impact on objectives of the study. An online
education. questionnaire was generated and mailed to
all the respondents. Responses were also
2. To analyse the perception of male and collected online from respondents as face to
female respondents towards online face interaction was not possible during the
study during COVID-19. pandemic time.
3. To analyse the advantages and
disadvantages of online study during The researcher has used a structured
the pandemic. questionnaire using a Likert scale. Due to
the pandemic situation, the researcher
4. To analyse the precaution done by prepared the questionnaire using Google
schools after lockdown. documents and send links to the students
and faculties using WhatsApp, Facebook
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY and email. The data was collected and
This special investigation reflects on the analysed using IBM SPSS software 20. For
effect of Covid-19 on schooling. It statistical analysis factor analysis, group
investigates the causes behind the Covid-19 statistics and independent sample test was
pandemic and eventually impacts on the used for this study.
students'. The research would allow readers
to consider their understanding of the Data is collected from a total of 100
pandemic time of pupils, parents and respondents.
teachers in order to establish properly

52
DATA ANALYSIS

Table 1:- Group Statistics

Group Statistics
Gender N Mean Std. Std. Error
Deviation Mean
How much do you satisfied with Male 60 1.55 .502 .065
“online teaching” concept in this covid- Female 40 1.48 .506 .080
19 situation?
Do you feel that you have to study more Male 60 1.93 .843 .109
in online teaching? Female 40 1.83 1.217 .192
Do you find peaceful environment at Male 60 3.99 1.092 .141
home to study? Female 40 3.93 1.023 .162
Do you think that you have contributed Male 60 1.45 .502 .065
towards prevention of spreading covid- Female 40 1.35 .483 .076
19
Do you think that online teaching Male 60 1.92 1.225 .158
concept will continue after this crisis? Female 40 1.90 1.081 .171
Do you feel that you need physical Male 60 3.92 1.441 .186
document or equipment to study from Female 40 3.03 1.476 .233
home?
Do you feel like isolated during online Male 60 2.00 1.105 .143
learning? Female 40 1.80 1.091 .172
Are you feeling comfortable while Male 60 4.13 1.359 .175
studying at home in comparison to Female 40 3.48 1.601 .253
school?
Do you feel that all ICT‟S tools those Male 60 2.33 1.489 .192
you are using are sufficient to study Female 40 2.30 1.636 .259
online?
Do you realize that most of the students Male 60 1.45 .649 .084
don‟t have access to online education? Female 40 1.45 .714 .113
Do you agree that online learning Male 60 4.37 .938 .121
concept is suitable for all kinds of Female 40 4.03 1.121 .177
students?
Do you feel that monitoring of students Male 60 1.73 .936 .121
is difficult in online teaching? Female 40 1.53 .784 .124
Do you realize that you are facing some Male 60 2.87 .769 .099
health issue while studying at home? Female 40 2.00 1.038 .164
Do you feel that family responsibilities Male 60 2.18 1.172 .151
are increased while studying from Female 40 1.83 1.107 .175
home?
a. t cannot be computed because at least one of the groups is empty.

In the Group Statistic table, the number of agree that online learning concept is
respondents (N), mean, standard deviation suitable for all kinds of students?” for the
and standard error is represented for all the male group (4.37). The number of
variables related with online teaching. Also respondents for males is 60 and for female
from the table it is clear that the highest is40.
mean is recorded for the variable “Do you

53
Table 2:- Independent Samples Test

Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test t-test for Equality of Means
for Equality
of Variances
F Sig. t df Sig. Mean Std. Error 95%
(2- Difference Difference Confidence
tailed) Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
How much do Equal .191 .663 .730 98 .467 .075 .103 -.129 .279
you satisfied variances
with “online assumed
teaching” Equal .729 83.268 .468 .075 .103 -.130 .280
concept in this variances
covid-19 not
situation? assumed
do you feel Equal 1.667 .200 -.931 98 .354 -.192 .206 -.600 .217
that you have variances
to study more assumed
in online Equal -.867 63.635 .389 -.192 .221 -.633 .250
teaching? variances
not
assumed
Do you find Equal .405 .526 -.422 98 .674 -.092 .217 -.523 .340
peaceful variances
environment assumed
at home to Equal -.427 87.431 .670 -.092 .214 -.518 .335
study? variances
not
assumed
Do you think Equal 3.890 .051 .991 98 .324 .100 .101 -.100 .300
that you have variances
contributed assumed
towards Equal .999 85.897 .321 .100 .100 -.099 .299
prevention of variances
spreading not
covid-19 assumed
Do you think Equal 1.971 .163 .070 98 .945 .017 .239 -.457 .491
that online variances
teaching assumed
concept will Equal .072 90.509 .943 .017 .233 -.446 .479
continue after variances
this crisis? not
assumed
Do you feel Equal .287 .593 -.365 98 .716 -.108 .297 -.698 .481
that you need variances
physical assumed
document or Equal -.363 82.348 .718 -.108 .298 -.702 .485
equipment to variances
study from not
home? assumed
Do you feel Equal .112 .739 .891 98 .375 .200 .224 -.245 .645
like isolated variances
during online assumed
learning? Equal .894 84.466 .374 .200 .224 -.245 .645
variances
not
assumed
Are you Equal 8.074 .005 2.209 98 .030 .658 .298 .067 1.250
feeling variances
comfortable assumed

54
while studying Equal 2.138 74.145 .036 .658 .308 .045 1.272
at home in variances
comparison to not
school? assumed
Do you feel Equal 1.109 .295 -.211 98 .833 -.067 .316 -.694 .561
that all ICT‟S variances
tools those assumed
you are using Equal -.207 78.182 .837 -.067 .322 -.708 .575
are sufficient variances
to study not
online? assumed
Do you realize Equal .315 .576 .000 98 1.000 .000 .138 -.274 .274
that most of variances
the assumed
studentsdon‟t Equal .000 78.100 1.000 .000 .141 -.280 .280
have access to variances
online not
education? assumed
Do you agree Equal .916 .341 1.650 98 .102 .342 .207 -.069 .753
that online variances
learning assumed
concept is Equal 1.592 73.374 .116 .342 .215 -.086 .769
suitable for all variances
kinds of not
students? assumed
Do you feel Equal 1.513 .222 1.161 98 .248 .208 .179 -.148 .564
that variances
monitoring of assumed
studentsis Equal 1.203 92.905 .232 .208 .173 -.136 .552
difficult in variances
online not
teaching? assumed
Do you realize Equal 3.256 .074 -.737 98 .463 -.133 .181 -.492 .226
that you are variances
facing some assumed
health issue Equal -.695 66.889 .489 -.133 .192 -.516 .250
while studying variances
at home? not
assumed
Do you feel Equal .314 .577 1.532 98 .129 .358 .234 -.106 .823
that family variances
responsibilities assumed
are increased Equal 1.549 86.955 .125 .358 .231 -.101 .818
while studying variances
from home? not
assumed

The Sig. (2-Tailed) value in the above table FINDINGS

is greater than 0.05 for all variables. Because From the study results, it becomes clear that
of this, it can be concluded that there is no due to the suspension of the education
significant difference between the process all over the world to discourage the
perceptions of different gender about online spread of corona-virus among students
teaching during the covid-19 pandemic. online learning is adopted to avoid
Since from the previous Table, the Group discontinuity of learning. Though the
Statistics box revealed that the Mean for the method has been the only feasible solution
male group is greater than the mean for the at the time of the lockdown has its own set
female group; we can conclude that the of limitations. The results also put forth that
male group was more concerned about the when students, teachers and parents were
online teaching during COVID-19 as interviewed to find out their perception
compared to female group respondents. about the impact of this pandemic on the

55
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