COVID-19 and School Education-from one thing to another

Online teaching and learning were a rather rushed matter forced upon the education sector by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rather abrupt shift to the distance learning mode challenged the mindsets, skillsets and expectations of all educators. The fact of the matter is that most of us were caught unawares by the advent of the Corona Virus Pandemic. The takeaway from all of this is that we need to work on the need for upskilling and reskilling for virtual education. This applies not only to teachers but also students who use the excuses of microphones not working or even cameras not working. Education post-COVID-19 is going to be more about enhancing IT skills than about subject matter.

But then, coming to the existing situation, online teaching has turned out to be more stressful for both students and teachers especially for those who have to stare at laptop screens for hours sitting in the same place. The lack of physical movement, exposure to UV radiation, a sterile environment has all taken a toll on the physical and mental health of students educators and even parents who have to host their children for a longer period of time. While some of the better equipped and top-notch schools have managed to salvage something out of the COVID-19 Lockdown situation, others, (Government and Government Aided schools) have fallen far behind. This gap in learning because of a lack of IT skills and technological awareness has lead to anxiety in most students and even their teachers who are worried about completing the syllabus, especially board classes that conduct summative assessments. To make matters worse, a lot of the less equipped schools are trying to conduct online classes on of all platforms, Whatsapp! The COVID-19 has brought the divide that exists between the privileged and not so privileged schools. It is therefore important to restructure the syllabus so that it takes into consideration the fact that a large number of students might not have had proper classes. The CBSE should reduce the quantum of the syllabus so that summative assessments do justice to all the students across the country.

Even after we come back to schools when the COVID-19 crisis is over, it will take a lot of time to return to normal. Many of the schools have laid off temporary staff, especially teachers on ad-hoc appointments. In some cases, even permanent teaching staff has been laid off as a result of the lack of funds to pay their salaries with. This shortage of teachers in schools across the country, (exacerbating the existing problem) will affect the quality of education in schools. The situation is even worse in schools running in the countryside and rural areas where parents mostly subsist on farming and have limited income options. In such cases, parents have expressed their inability to pay their children's fees. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental economic impact on the educational sector in the country. One wonders if therefore we might not be looking at another crisis staring at us in the face.

Apart from the financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect of lockdown, the uncertainty looming over the future of school education have had their impact on the mental health of not only teachers but also students. The uncertainty about the conduct of remaining Board exams at the grade ten and grade twelve exams levels had lead to a lot of anxiety and stress in students who had a few exams left after lockdown took place. The CBSE after a lot of time decided to do away with the remaining exams, but not before the damage was done. This situation has been faced by college students who have a final semester left before they graduate. College students are anxious about how the final semester exams will be conducted, whether these exams will be online or pen and paper exams. If they are online exams, then how will they manage them, if there are pen and paper exams then how will students who migrated to their hometowns before lockdown manage to shift back to the towns or cities where their colleges and schools exist? It is, therefore, not just schools that have been impacted by the COVID-19 but also colleges.

What is at stake is the very future of education in the country. Perhaps the most affected are students who are in their tertiary or final levels either in school or in college. Students in their tertiary or final year of schooling or college training would be looking for either admission to a college in the former case or a career for the latter and the lack of transparency and a delay in the mode of conduct of summative assessments, a delay in the announcement of results would affect the future of the children.

Apart from the mental, emotional and financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been issues relating to the excessive use of technology. Though technology has appeared to be a lifesaver for most sectors, it has also had a paradoxical impact. Too much use of technology has lead to burnout, stress and poor health. The COVID-19 pandemic forced technology into the field of education especially in order to salvage something from the situation. This resulted in excess use of technology. The lack of proper training in the use of technology, lack of exposure to online learning platforms has exacerbated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psyche of the learners and their teachers in schools and colleges in the country. Most teachers and their students were not sufficiently equipped mentally to work with technology and online platforms. 

Educationists and learners have not as yet learned that the ideal use of technology also entails learning to step away from the use of technology, learning to take important pauses and breaks from the use of technology. Sitting for hours without break, staring at laptop screens can only result in adverse health-related issues. A common complaint of parents before the Corona Virus pandemic was that their children were spending too much time online. Now, the use of technology has increased screen time adding to the woes of parents.

Online teaching platforms at present are a stop-gap option in times of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Research has shown, moreover that online teaching has, guess what? Rather 'deflating' results! One very important takeaway from the results of research conducted by MIT Professor, Justin Reich et al is that we still need to do a lot to make online teaching effective. Ultimately, it is the human touch, the emotional connect and the 'actual' environment rather than the 'virtual' environment that matters in education. I am posting a link below that describes research findings on the efficacy of online teaching. Hence, let us not, as yet jump on to the bandwagon, or to use a rather cliched term, 'resonate' with those who will swear on the efficacy of online teaching based on a few days of practice!

Lockdown has had a rather disturbing impact on children vulnerable to cyber-bullying. Post-COVID-19 children have started spending more and more time on social networking sites and this has exposed them to the possibility of being exposed to cyberbullying. An increased interest in social networking sites as a result of a lack of human contact, both with peers, teachers and even parents has made children more vulnerable to online bullying. The recent incident involving an online boy's group that vilified girls in a way that was demeaning is an example of how excess time spent online on social networking sites might bring out the worst in most of our students.

This Wetland is a Birder's Paradise

Situated on the Gurgaon-Jajjhar road, right adjacent to the Basai Water-treatment plant is a narrow lane seemingly leading to nowhere. On the right-hand side of the lane is a tall wall rather like the Great Wall of China and on the right-hand side is a pile of Debris meant to be processed by the so-called construction wast-treatment plant. One can reach the wetland from the Dwarka-Express way, or one can take the Basai Jajjhar road and then turn right after descending the flyover.

One of the most interesting bird species one can find at the wetland in the Purple Swamphen. These rather garishly coloured birds are rather funny. They chase each other around the wetland and make some of the funniest sounds. They often fly at a low height, but then I have also seen a few flying really high up in the sky! These colourful birds that very long toes and fingers. They are waders, therefore, they need big feet so that they can probe the water-bottom for succulent roots and weeds to eath.

Painted Storks can also be found in large numbers at the Basai Wetland. These really huge birds are a joy to photograph while flying. Painted Storks too are waders and they use their feet while foraging in the shallow water for insects, small fish and other food items.

But then there are quite a few more birds to be in the Basai Wetland and these include, Purple Heron, the common Pond Heron, Bitterns, Pheasant-tailed Jacanas

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Unfortunately, this wetland is threatened by developmental activities taking place in the area. What was once a thriving fresh-water body teaming with indigenous species of fish has now been taken over by the banned African Catfish. The Wetland that stretched over an area of more than eight square acres now measure much less, barely four or five acres. The Basai Wetland is an important rainwater catchment area and filling it up will result in extreme flooding of the area. What people don't realise is that such wetlands act as important buffers against droughts and dry seasons. Gurgaon now has lost most of its catchment areas, many of which were once protected by bunds constructed by the British Administration during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Most of the old land records that clearly demarcate wetlands, bunds and forest areas have somehow been lost.

Orb-Weaver Spider-Neoscona Crucifera (Not for the Squeamish)

A lot of people find insects bugs and spiders repulsive to look at. Somehow it is all about an instinctive fear of creepy-crawlies. However, a closer look at most of the spiders is bound to fascinate you, at least when their photographs are blown up. Thanks to Macro-photography I was later able to identify the spider, a regular at my garden as an Orb-Weaver Spider known by its Scientific name as Neoscona Crucifera.

Incidentally, I would spot this particular spider early in the mornings, at about 5:00 a.m hanging from a silken org made of very sticky material. On many occasions, when I made a little noise, it scampered into an evergreen tree. On other occasions, I literally saw it roll up the web and bundle it up in its front claws, with its eyes barely peeking over the sticky bundle of web.

Clearly, Orb-Weaver Spiders are nocturnal by nature and they come out during the night, spinning a huge web, an orb of sticky silk to trap hapless insects. On a few occasions, I did see an insect in its mandibles sucked hollow, a mere carcass to be blown away in the wind. Orb-weaver spiders probably inject the victim with some kind of a protein or perhaps a chemical that liquefies the inner organs of the insect which can then be sucked as a rich juice by the spider.

A brief note about the photographs, well I used a Canon 1300D body with a 40 mm Canon STM Pancake Lens. I used a fill-in flash to bring out the details, used a shutter speed of 1/200 and an aperture of f-7.1 to f-13. I kept the ISO settings at 100 and 200 so that I could get fewer grains in the photographs. So, as you can see, you really don't require high-end fancy equipment to take great-looking macro shots!

Photographing Purple Herons of the Disappearing Wetlands of Gurgaon

The Basai Wetland of Gurgaon is an amazing place for wildlife photography, especially waterbirds. Incidentally, the wetland that is fast shrinking, (thanks to unplanned developmental activities) is a favourite nesting site for Purple Heron, those large, majestic birds that are a photographer's delight. Incidentally, I used a Canon 1500D camera with a 55-250 mm IS lens and shot these snaps in the RAW format. I used a shutter speed of 1/4000.

While this blogpost is more about photographic techniques, it also brings out the beauty of nature. But then, to come to the art of photographing moving objects, especially flying birds, it is important to develop the skill of tracking flying birds early on, tracking them, and knowing when to press the shutter. In the above photograph, I had been tracking the bird for quite some time and then decided to press the shutter when the bird was flying with a building in the background. I needed this effect-having a blurred background and a sharp image of the bird. In order to have the desired depth of field or blurring of the background, I chose an aperture varying from 5.6 to 7.1 with 6.3 being a sure shot aperture.

For me, as a photographer of flying birds, it is very important to have the sun in the right direction, preferable in a direction that will bring out the eye bird nicely in focus. If you zoom in on the photographs, you will notice that the eye of the bird has come out nicely in the photographs. I would have put my best photograph at the beginning of the post but then I realised that the best should be towards the end of the post and so I am sharing one of my good snaps.

A brief word about the camera - I guess any kind of a DSLR should come up tops for photographing flying birds. However, it is important to have a zoom lens that has a minimum focal length of 250 mm. Any Lens having less than 250 mm of focal length will be a compromise. Regarding the focusing mode, I use the Auto-focus mode with the central focal point and I use a combination of  AI-Focus or One-Shot Focus. 

Greater Flamingos of Gurgaon

A Greater Flamingo flies past

The reader might be wondering why I did not title this post, the Painted Storks of Gurgaon. While no doubt it would have been a great idea to focus on just one of the water-bird species found in Gurgaon, but then, when I started to write this blog, I decided to use a more specific title so that I could write about one of the larger species of birds found on the outskirts of Gurgaon, the exotic, Greater Flamingo. So, then without beating around the bushes, I will tell you that though this post is dedicated to the Flamingos, I have also included photographs of Painted Storks and the Black-Necked Storks that visit the city. I will not say much about the location of the spot because unfortunately, this is a wetland that is steadily being destroyed to make way for buildings, apartments and housing societies. It is unfortunate that no one in the administration or the common is really interested in preserving this highly valuable and important ecosystem found in Gurgaon.

A Greater Flamingo flying towards the lens

Greater Flamingos fly in search of feeding grounds

Greater Flamingos fly towards the Najafgarh Wetland

A Lone Greater Flamingo hurries to catch up with the rest of the flock

A Lone Flamingo rushes to catch up with the rest of the Flock

Through this post, I would like to draw the reader's attention towards the more playful nature of Painted Storks. In fact Juvenile Painted Storks chase each other around like children do! Flamingoes are a closely-knit group of birds and like Sarus Cranes (that I didn't spot this time) are very loving towards each other. I have often seen Flamingo pairs fly so close to each other that they seem to overlap each other! It is interesting also to see different species of birds coexisting with each other in great harmony, a lesson for us indeed! Yes, and just to clarify any doubts about what you think the fella below was doing, well he was preparing for a Painted Storks singing competition!

A Painted Stork clears its throat

Painted Storks chasing each other

A pair of Painted Storks doing the Foxtrot

A Black-necked Stork stands before a Painted Stork

Without a doubt it is highly satisfying to see these beautiful and graceful birds lift up to fly into the morning sky with the golden sun making their feathers turn golden, a spiritual moment indeed, as one would say a great way to connect with the Creator of these miracles. Somehow, we have lost our connect from nature, and it is oases such as these that serve to refresh and revive you.

A Pair of Greater Flamingos fly close to each other

A lone Greater Flamingo hurries in search of the others

Gurgaon is indeed a conundrum, a city of contrasts what with the rural and the urban aspects co-existing. If it is a city of skyscrapers, it is also a city where one might find buffalo herders taking their buffalos to pasture. And there exist even now pockets of areas where people, domestic animals and waterbirds exist in harmony. Scenes such as these are simply out of this world!

In perfect harmony

I guess a better title for this post would be "Nature in the Neighbourhood" and this title would justify our need to protect and treasure nature in our neighbourhood. The Lockdown caused by the Coronavirus pandemic must have given nature a brief respite from our destructive activities. It is because of the absence of people for quite some time that these birds have grown into young adults, though, I believe they need a little more practice in making a landing in the water.

A Landing attempt by a Juvenile Painted Stork

Aiming for the centre line, a Painted Stork attempts a landing

Note: If you really want to enjoy the photographs, I suggest that you zoom in on each photograph so that you can see the intricate details.

The COVID-19 Epidemic - How it impacted us

It is often said that images speak louder than words, and this is exactly why pasted a few photographs that I feel, are an apt depiction of life in times of the COVID-19 lockdown in Gurgaon, and perhaps all the other cities of India. The Poster in the above picture, hung across the alley of one locality in Gurgaon exhorts people to stay at home. It also warns strangers not to enter the alley. Added to this the writer of the poster instructs vegetable vendors and milkmen not to enter the lane. The last Bullet point requests everyone to wear a mask and carry a hand sanitizer. These, incidentally are instructions common to all gated housing societies across the country that have been declared Red Zones - locations where COVID-19 infected people have been identified.

The poster is a very strong depiction of how the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected human society in general. Today we view strangers with suspicion, they might be carriers of the COVID-19 virus, who might want to infect other people out of a malicious and revengeful attitude. There have been stories all over the country of the treatment given to patients of the COVID-19 virus by those in the neighbourhood. They have been hounded, ostracised, heckled, chased out the locality, and even locked indoors. There have been equally disturbing stories of paramedical staff being told to leave their rented accommodations by their landlords. Even those who have recovered from the virus attack have not been allowed to return to their homes by their neighbours.

The Coronavirus epidemic has brought out both the good and the bad in all of us. The good things include awareness about personal hygiene, the importance of social distancing in such times (to break the chain of possible infections), and perhaps most important of all a sense of responsibility and awareness about how each individual's actions might impact the rest of the community. All of us have seen how people have helped migrant workers and the jobless by organising community kitchens and distributing food packets. We have seen how everyone has pitched in to help others. The sense of responsibility towards others has increased greatly.

The COVID-19 collection mobile van has become ubiquitous during the COVID-19 lockdown. In some cases, it is a grim reminder of how real the danger of getting infected by the virus is today. The virus does not discriminate between the rich or poor, the privileged and the underprivileged, black or white, man or woman! The presence of such a van in the vicinity is enough to strike our hearts with a sense of unease, fear or even terror. I was asked by a stranger while taking this photograph whether the van had been sanitized. I replied that I was not sure, though it was evident that van was travel-stained.

The COVID-19 epidemic also saw some words used so often that everyone was using them. The words included, social-distancing, sanitization, isolation and quarantine. It is significant how important these terms have become today. The future health and well-being of mankind depend on these practices, we can no longer live with a false belief that we are invincible and that nothing can challenge our very existence on the planet. It is ironical that while our technology has been directed to the bigger things in life, it is the little things, the microscopic viruses that we have overlooked because of our pride and ego.

The COVID-19 epidemic also saw a humanitarian crisis develop in the country. The plight of migrant workers rendered jobless due to the lockdown was highlighted by various news agencies and posts on social media. We could see streams of people carrying their belongings, walking on the roads hoping to reach their hometowns. The lack of public transport meant that many of them had to walk hundreds of kilometres, often without food and water. There were numerous stories of migrant workers meeting with tragic accidents on the roads. The whole situation was an important learning for us. Any emergency and ways to tackle the same needs to take into consideration migrant workers of the country who also happen to be an important workforce that drives the countries development and progress in terms of economy and infrastructure. Many of the migrant workers wanted to go home, to be with their loved and dear ones. Ejected by unscrupulous landlords and having no income, they were forced to travel back home where they could have a better support system. Unfortunately, this mass exodus would have exacerbated the spread of the COVID-19 infection in the rural areas which had been spared from the epidemic.

Finally but not least important of all were sights of empty streets empty roads and markets. The picture posted above is of the entrance to the Sadar Bazaar of Gurgaon, one of the most important markets of the Gurgaon district that used to see huge crowds from neighbouring areas coming in to shop for essentials at the lowest prices. The COVID-19 epidemic has surely affected our economy and the effect will remain for a long time. The Sadar Bazar of Gurgaon happens to be the financial hub of Gurgaon and its deserted look is proof enough of the loss of crores of Rupees of business. Some of the worst affected by the epidemic have been small scale retailers who probably did not have the financial backing that would have tided them through the lockdown.