Edu-Hurdle Continues: What 2022 Has in Store For Education?

As the year 2021 completes its tenure and bogs off the calendar, people of the nation tend to uproot their miserable memories with the departing of 2021. Memories of catastrophic third wave of Covid-19 pandemic, upending of multiple lives, disrupted education and other halted activities similar to year 2020 were witnessed in the bygone year and people anticipate an optimistic chapter for the newly arrived year. However, education still seems to advance in a muted manner with the arrival of 2022, as the government has again clamped down on academic activities amidst rapid transmission of the highly contagious Omicron variant of Covid-19. The spurt in the number of Covid-19 cases in the final quarter of 2021 has again led to the closure of schools and colleges, which might be a harbinger of disrupted education in 2022 as well.
 While the schools seem to be at a low probability of functioning amidst the looming fear of Omicron variant and imminent arrival of third wave in the first quarter of 2022, the schools need to establish a balance between traditional teaching methods and the use of technology in the classroom. This is because when the schools opened for a brief period in 2021, the teachers completely disposed the use of technology. Thus, the school administration needs to incorporate learning in a blended ecosystem to add impact to the teaching efficiency.
 Higher wave of Covid-19 infections have hampered the learning of college students too, for whom practical learning is immensely important. However, due to higher intellect in college students as compared to school students, online classes and distance education would serve the purpose this year as well. To cover practical nuances of subjects, the college administration must rope in Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to give students a clearer picture of their respective subjects.
 Students preparing for government and competitive exams also fell prey to uncertainty and other miseries posed by the pandemic when a number of competitive government exams were deferred in 2020 and 2021, like SSC and UPSC. The condition is most likely to prevail in 2022 as well if Omicron variant wreaks havoc, but the exams will be deferred only for some months. Most probably, the government is expected to roll out new and additional vacancies to provide employment to more people and help them recuperate from pandemic blues.