Being a teacher’s child is a tough job. The job description entails being a perfect student in school, staying away from both mischief-making and mischief-makers, and not falling prey to the soporific power of your teacher’s voice. You put your toe out of the line, and the news travels to your parents, faster than the coronavirus. Even after school, your life is constantly analysed and dissected like an answer sheet, with lots of red circles, question marks and big zeroes. This was the pattern of my life up until March, when the tables suddenly turned.
It all started a few days after the announcement of the lockdown. A circular arrived from the school, instructing both my parents to start taking online classes. There was instant uproar. With just one laptop in the house and their ineptitude at anything related to technology, this has been a source of daily arguments and fights. From snide remarks to full-blown verbal combats, they have done it all.
It has been more than 20 years since my parents started teaching. In the beginning, it was only chalk-and-talk, some charts and models. Within a few years, an overhead projector made its way into the school. This meant that my mother and I spent hours drawing the heart and kidneys with different coloured markers on transparent sheets. My father being a commerce teacher hardly ever used these tools, and I don’t think he would have bothered anyway.
Just when our stack of colourful transparent sheets had reached a substantial number, laptops and computers became the trending teaching aids. Now you could show PowerPoint presentations and YouTube videos in the class. Hours were spent making presentations where the letters appeared with a bang and made a full revolution of the screen before they plopped down on their designated places. The advent of the interactive boards made the lives of both students and teachers easier. Just when things were going at a steady pace, the coronavirus reared its ugly head.
The pandemic has forced teachers all over the country to hunt for new ways to educate kids. From YouTube channels to Google Classroom and Google Meet, they have been trying their best. Being stuck at home, I have been elevated to the position of the resident computer guru. Through these past few months, I have seen my mother navigating online classes interrupted by cooker whistles, managing enthusiastic parents and recording a complete video lesson without pressing the start button. I even heard the camera heave a sigh of relief, as my father learnt to focus his face instead of the inside of his nose. It has been a tough ride.
The school administration and the government do not seem to find it necessary to train teachers before expecting them to deliver world-class education online. The pressure on teachers to maintain good results has always been high, but online classes seem to have increased it manifold. While virtual inspections are conducted to judge the teacher’s performance, introspection over the problems faced by teachers and students, seems to be nil. It is especially tough for students from poorer backgrounds. Not everyone is privileged to have a mobile phone with a good Internet connection. Families with many children find it very hard, as all the children have to attend the classes simultaneously. However, one thing to be thankful for is the technological advancement in my 50-something parents. A new laptop has arrived and a tablet is on its way. A treaty of peace has been signed and they are finally back to ganging up on me.
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