Online education needed to aid students amid coronavirus outbreak: Kerawalla

With many states across India declaring the shutdown of all educational institutions due to coronavirus pandemic, Rustom Kerawalla, Chairman, Ampersand Group - a school management service enterprise, has urged all state governments across India to formulate an immediate policy to tackle the temporary closure by integrating online education at the earliest so that students don't lose on valuable time.

Kerawalla believes that India with its vast IT corridor is technologically equipped to roll out e-Education and fast pace the entire process through its deep network of telecom services which will help out students in bridging the gap and time-lapse due to lost hours in schools. He adds that while there are several products in the offering in the online domain - educational institutions, parents, and teachers don't have the green signal to conduct lessons online as many educational applications available online don't have the required nod from the respective education boards and the government.

"As several state governments have called for a complete shutdown of educational institutions, the central government should prepare a task force comprising of edtech companies, school management services, academicians, entrepreneurs, and state functionaries to formulate a policy to expedite the process of online education amidst the coronavirus pandemic," said Rustom Kerawalla, Chairman, Ampersand Group.

Kerawalla added that in addition to the policy, the government should reach out to private enterprises to rollout such mechanisms in the public-private partnership model which will facilitate a faster rollout and help the start-up industry in India which has been efficiently contributing to the economy.

"We should invite EduTech companies to collaborate with the government to roll out online mechanisms in Public-Private Partnership. Also, online education should be facilitated across all boards to ensure there is no blockade in imparting education," added Kerawalla.

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