IN the midst of the growing uncertainty because of coronavirus, online classes were started in universities to save the precious time of students and to keep the universities functional by the revenues it generates from the fees.

Though the nature of the problem is well-understood, online classes as an alternative have serious flaws. As a result, it is proving to be a failed strategy. Infrastructure and internet facility are either limited or not available in the peripheral areas of the country. Hence, students who cannot access the Internet are excluded from education.

The students who are taking classes in the virtual world are also not satisfied with the system. On the other hand, teachers have shown concern over many things, but the most challenging among them is the assessment of students.

The policy of open book examinations is useful in social studies and humanities. In these subjects, a question can be answered in many ways.

Therefore, students do not have an opportunity to share answers.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to maintain fair assessment in technical subjects such as mathematics and physics. Answers in these subjects are fixed. For instance, two plus two is always equal to four. So, the students share answers with each other. As a result, fair assessment in the virtual world remains a pipedream.

Online education has multifaceted challenges. It not only has to keep in mind the students in remote areas, but it also has to ensure fair assessment of students.

Idris Khan

Swat

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2020