Dilemma in Online Education Exposes Sri Lanka’s Social Inequality BY Methmalie Dissanayake
With the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic hit Sri Lanka in March 2020 and schools were promptly closed as everyone feared for the safety of the children. Although they were reopened in between, as of March 2021, Sri Lankan schools are estimated to have been fully closed for 28 weeks and partially closed for 15 weeks according to UNESCO data. This will be further increase as schools have been closed indefinitely following the third wave of the pandemic.
As a result, students and teachers have been forced to remain home and conduct classes online. Although many top level schools and international schools in the country easily adopted into this situation, the story is different for the students in many parts of the country.
Many incidents were reported where students in rural areas had to climb roofs, trees, rocks etc. to catch the internet signals to get online.
Students in Kalatuwawa, Wewala climbed trees more than 40 ft because they could not find internet signals anywhere in their village.
At the Fourth Mile Post in Norton Bridge, Hatton, children were seen coming to a small bus stop, despite the bad weather condition, because it was the only place in the area with proper reception. Some local children have to walk many kilometres daily to catch internet signals.
There is no mention of the plight of children in orphanages; it seems everyone has forgotten to pay attention as to how they receive education online.
Punctuality
In a post on ’IPS Talking Economics’, blog researchers Ashani Abayasekara and Thisali de Silva said that less than 50 per cent of students in Sri Lanka went online on average, as confirmed by a recent survey conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS).
“Online learning platforms in Sri Lanka suffer from access and quality, as confirmed by estimates of a recent survey conducted among public school teachers and parents across the country. Less than 50 per cent of students have internet access on average; further, it ranged as low as eight per cent in the smallest schools – which are typically the least privileged – to 59 per cent in the largest.
The survey also indicates that education via TV proved to be a better way of reaching students in smaller schools. However, several pedagogical and logistical challenges have hindered effectiveness. These include lack of links between televised programmes and teachers’ lesson plans; a passive teaching style and absence of interaction with students; confusion of timing and duration of different subjects and TV channels; and poor communication of programme information to schools, students, and parents.”
Issues faced by teachers
Although the hardships faced by students had gained attention, the issues faced by school teachers have never been discussed enough.
Many criticise teachers claiming that they lack innovative methods to teach and do not know much about modern technology. But those who criticise teachers tend to forget about the bitter realities.
“The teachers never say no to teach. But they have not provided with any facilities to teach online. All the teachers who deliver online lessons pay for data from their own pockets. Many of them do not even have proper devices. Instead of providing them facilities, the authorities instruct them to carry out online lessons and monitor them. This is very unfair for both teachers and students,” General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union Joseph Stalin said.
Also, children of teacher are learning online as well, so it is a difficult for them to find devices to teach online at the same time, Stalin said.
Risk of children dropping out of school
Speaking to Ceylon Today, Stalin stressed that about 60 per cent of school students are in a danger of dropping out of school as a result of poorly planned online education in the country.
“In many rural areas, the children do not have equipment. They do not have money to buy them. Some even cannot afford data. Our teachers say that in some areas only 10 – 20 students out of 40 students in a classroom attend to online lectures,” he noted.
It should be noted that children who have equipment face other problems like lack of signal strength. Their parents cannot afford the data either. When there is more than one child in a family, it is very difficult for the parents to provide equipment and bear data costs.
Stalin also warned about the social cost which could resulted from children dropping out of schools.
The children are at home for almost two years now. As I said earlier, many students do not receive a proper education now. The social cost of this could be unbearable for the country in the future. No one in the higher level care about what would happen to these children who are about to drop out of school, he noted.
“When we look at a classroom, there are different kinds of students. Some are slow learners. Now, such students have lost two years of education. It will be very hard for them to catch up what they missed when the schools reopen in the future. Unfortunately no one pays attention to this.”
Moreover, Stalin also pointed out that there is a high risk of students engaging in child labour as a result. He said that even now many GCE Ordinary Level and GCE Advanced Level students are engaging in online delivery services to earn money.
“The educational authorities should pay attention to these. They have enough time to prepare a proper plan to create a successful mechanism to provide education to children. But they neglected it and only now have commenced discussions”.
When asked if teachers’ unions have been invited for such discussions, Stalin said they have not received any invitation so far.
Teachers’ unions have suggested introducing study packs and broadcasting lessons on TV.
“Online education is just one element of distance learning. There are other methods too. If the authorities pay attention, it is not be difficult to find suitable methods so no child loses their right to education”.
“They have to discuss with the teachers first because we are the ones who know the ground reality. Recently, I saw the Education Minister on a television programme proudly declaring that online education method is continuing successfully. These Ministers are not in the real world. They are in other dimensions. That is why they make such stupid statements. They have to come back to their senses,” he stressed.
Social inequality
Renowned author Professor at Department of Sinhala of Peradeniya University Liyanage Amarakeerthi noted that current online education in Sri Lanka highlights the social inequality in the country clearly.
On a Facebook post, Prof Amarakeerthi said,
“These days I use Zoom to conduct lessons. The average attendance percentage for a live zoom session is 30 while the maximum percentage of live attendance remains at 40. There are many students who have not logged into the Learning Management System (LMS) of the University for 30 – 40 days. Before the pandemic, the attendance for the lectures exceeded 90 per cent. For my lectures it was nearly 100 per cent. Now it has reduced to 30 per cent.”
“These students do not participate in live sessions because they have issues with internet data, the environment they live and technical facilities they have. But this situation is different when it comes to the English Department of the same university,” he noted.
Prof. Amarakeerthi conducts lectures for an introduction to Sinhala literature for students from the English Department. Unlike the Sinhala Department, the live attendance of the students of the English Department is 100 per cent, he says.
“Even though the students of the English Department do not come from affluent backgrounds, they are raised in middle class families. Therefore, they do not face issues such as lack of data, lack of study environment compared to the students of Sinhala Department.”
“I teach both Departments with the same enthusiasm. But this is the situation in the country now. This social inequality always makes my heart heavy. It is sad that the Government has not even started to think about it.”
Prices of equipment, data costs and lack of signal strength
Students across the country, including those in urban areas, are facing several issued even with facilities to access online education. One major problem is the low signal strength offered by internet service providers.
There are many areas which do not have signal strength to even make a phone call, let alone logging into internet. The children in rural areas are severely affect by this problem. Even in urban areas, the signal strength remains low. Internet service providers said that this is due to many people working from home during the pandemic.
I was also reported that some telecommunications companies even visited random areas and promised to provide coverage to students. But even after one and half years, the companies have not done an iota to increase their coverage islandwide.
Furthermore, the prices of smartphones and computers have skyrocketed during the pandemic.
When there is more than one child at home, one smartphone or a computer would not suffice. Also, parents have to bear a higher cost for internet packages.
During a time when many livelihoods are in jeopardy, it is not very hard to understand that online education is not affordable for most people.
Areas for Urgent Action
Ashani Abayasekara and Thisali de Silva in their blog post noted that both emergency and recovery measures adopted in Sri Lanka during COVID-19 school closures have worsened existing education inequities. To alleviate the current education crisis and commit to leaving no one behind, urgent action is needed in the following areas:
Reopen schools in low-risk areas
It is useful to consider opening schools in remote COVID-19 low-risk areas where distance learning is neither accessible nor effective, which usually have smaller student populations, allowing for better adherence to health guidelines such as physical distancing.
This can be done by allowing schools to make decisions in discussion with relevant school committees and regional education authorities, as opposed to blanket decisions made at the central level for all schools. Such plans should also involve strategies for more permanent ways of keeping schools open, supported by regular cost-effective testing of both teachers and students, and vaccinating teachers as a priority group.
Continue hybrid learning when schools reopen
The periodic interruptions to school reopening attempts underscore the need for a well-developed hybrid system for education delivery – consisting of a mix of in-person and remote options – so that teachers and students can shift smoothly to distance learning during an emergency. Even when schools are open, safety measures would not permit all students to attend school daily in highly-populated schools, necessitating blended learning to ensure uninterrupted learning. Recent research based on different country experiences shows that effective hybrid learning can be offered in any setting, by identifying the best combination of education modalities, learning material, and methods of communication, in line with available resources, skills, and technology.
Improve pedagogy for distance learning
Distance education is here to stay in some form or the other, at least in the foreseeable future. Ensuring effective remote pedagogy is particularly challenging for TV broadcasts as opposed to online teaching, where programme design has to ensure continuity in the face of the central teacher. Given that TV is the most feasible way of reaching less-privileged students in Sri Lanka, it is crucial to address existing pedagogical and logistical issues.
