Education is a basic necessity of every human being. It is the light in the darkness. Education determines the future of every nation, it gives identity, values, skills, and prepares for the future ahead. But now the means of education are drastically changing. The havoc caused by the COVID-19 breakout has muddled the lifestyle completely, especially the education sector affecting the most. The swift and furious pace of COVID-19 has shaken the whole world, no one has confronted such pernicious and petrified upheaval before in history. Millions of fatalities have been reported, people are being forced to stay at home and take precautions to cope with the situation. The government announced a total suspension of gatherings including education institutions markets and wedding halls. Certainly, it is a great loss not only to the economy but to the education sector as well. According to the latest figure released by UNESCO, 87% of the students’ population is facing the closure of schools and universities. Additionally, around 1.5 billion students are unable to get an education worldwide. The pandemic has shackled the roots of the already fragile education system of Pakistan. Educational institutions remain closed for seven months which made a hash of the entire system. The blow to the entire system is anticipated to pose long term effects. The immediate solution to the unprecedented dilemma was to transfer the medium of education to online. But the majority of the students were confronted with the issues such as inadequate access to the internet facility, inappropriate learning environment at home, the issue of voice and video quality, lack of preparedness on the part of teachers as well as students, unsupportive monitoring paradigm, cultural lag, And the list of the problems goes on. According to the report, 46,803,407 students are affected by the myopic policies of the government regarding education. The majority of students failed to take online classes and examinations. The education system is at a critical juncture. And it is a point to ponder as to Why the authorities always fail to chart out durable solutions at testing times?
The entire system will be on track only when the authorities put in their full efforts. The government should emphasize the promotion of E-learning in backward areas as the majority of the population is from a penurious area. Many professors grumble while taking online classes because of a lack of awareness of modern technologies; proper training of teachers in this realm is indispensable for imparting online education. Encouragement of massive open online courses MOOCs should be expanded all around, which will make the process of online classes glitches-free. HEC should solve the issues of digital infrastructure and should provide for necessary arrangements for the provision of uniform and easy access to the internet facility for the students as well as teachers. Moreover, Workshops for the students and teachers should be conducted for the learning of modern technologies.