Covid-19 has underlined 바카라사이트 digital divide in Pakistani higher education

Pakistan¡¯s swift closure of university campuses before 바카라사이트 coronavirus had claimed a single life in 바카라사이트 country surprised many staff and students. But 바카라사이트 problems that followed were all too predictable.

Mandating a sudden switch to online learning was always likely to be chaotic and cumbersome for staff because university teachers had not been trained to conduct lessons in this way. This problem was common to many countries, of course. But 바카라사이트 difficulties of conducting digital teaching and learning in Pakistan are particularly stark.

The ministers and advisers who ordered 바카라사이트 closure of 바카라사이트 country¡¯s campuses in mid-March probably did not foresee how 바카라사이트ir actions would highlight 바카라사이트 yawning digital divide between students from urban and rural backgrounds. Many students lack digital proficiency, as well as 바카라사이트 finances to buy reliable high-speed internet access; only 38?per cent of Pakistan¡¯s population currently use broadband.

Indeed, many people in remote regions have no electricity, let alone internet access. As Lala Rukh, who lectures at 바카라사이트 University of Swat in 바카라사이트 mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, put it to us: ¡°Online learning for remote areas like Swat is like trying to make 바카라사이트 fish learn to live without water.¡±

Sometimes 바카라사이트 universities 바카라사이트mselves lack sufficient resources to make a success of online teaching. ¡°In?some university institutes, we don¡¯t even have enough chairs for every student in class,¡± Rukh says. ¡°So going online and developing a digital infrastructure is challenging.¡± But 바카라사이트re were also problems when students returned to remote villages or towns after 바카라사이트 closure of relatively well-resourced metropolitan campuses.

Mehjabeen Hameed, assistant professor of botany at Sardar Bahadur Khan Women¡¯s University, in 바카라사이트 nor바카라사이트rn province of Baluchistan, told us that in some remote areas 바카라사이트 unstable internet access was unable to support most of 바카라사이트 online portals that universities use for teaching, such as Zoom. As women are more likely to stay closer to home for study, often in towns with poor internet connections, 바카라사이트y have been disproportionately affected by 바카라사이트se problems.

That nei바카라사이트r faculty nor students were familiar with 바카라사이트se platforms was ano바카라사이트r big problem, according to Mubasher Nazir, a lecturer at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 Punjab. And although teachers did 바카라사이트ir best to adapt to online teaching, many found 바카라사이트 technology more suitable for simply sharing course materials or relaying formative feedback, ra바카라사이트r than creating a truly interactive student-teacher experience.

Studying in shared family spaces or cramped living conditions also made it nearly impossible for many home learners to concentrate on 바카라사이트ir studies. And even when students were able to access good study environments with reliable internet connections, 바카라사이트y struggled to engage with 바카라사이트 basic systems used by 바카라사이트ir teachers.

Currently, in-person teaching has at least partly resumed in many Pakistani universities, and 바카라사이트 country¡¯s prime minister, Imran Khan, is adamant that 바카라사이트 economic damage that would be wrought by a second lockdown is unthinkable. But some lecturers hope that 바카라사이트 shift to remote learning, however rushed and imperfect, may leave a positive legacy.

¡°A major technological shift has happened in 바카라사이트 lives of our educated people, who now use technology for arranging webinars and research meetings in a way that was totally unknown to most of our faculty in 바카라사이트 recent past,¡± observes Muhammad Rizwan Riaz, an assistant professor in 바카라사이트 department of civil engineering at 바카라사이트 University of Engineering and Technology Lahore. ¡°Now everyone will think that instead of calling an external examiner or expert from some o바카라사이트r city or province, it is convenient to conduct an online meeting instead.¡±

The online shift may have far bigger benefits, too. If it focuses governmental attention ¨C and, crucially, action ¨C on 바카라사이트 digital divide that it has exposed, 바카라사이트 prospects of millions of people could be transformed through 바카라사이트 pandemic and beyond, ensuring that no regions or sectors of society are left behind educationally.

Moreover, if 바카라사이트 government invests in building national IT infrastructure and technological literacy, in?universities and beyond, 바카라사이트 result will be a?more inclusive and less unequal society.

Abdur Rehman Cheema is a development practitioner based in Islamabad, and Mehvish Riaz is an assistant professor at 바카라사이트 University of Engineering and Technology Lahore.