Crisis with Special Reference to Karnataka State(India), UGC, WHO and UNESCO Suggestion for reopening institutions

1. Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Higher
Education Institutions in Karnataka and
its challenges
Dr. Jagannath K. Dange
Professor and Chairman
Department of Education
Kuvempu University
Shankaraghatta
Dist: Shimoga,
Karnataka
drjkdange@gmail.com
http://jkdange.blogspot.com

2. COVID-19 crisis on HEIs
1. Functions of Higher Education
2.Status of Higher Education in India-wrt,
Karnataka.
3.Admission, Infrastructure, Teaching-Learning,
Competency and content Development, Staff
and Appointments, Examination.
4. Challenges and Expectations
5. Suggestions-WHO,UNESCO and UGC

3.  Higher Education is tertiary
Education also called post
secondary education leading to
award of an academic degree.
 The Education which students get
in Colleges and Universities is
called Higher Education.
University Grants Commission (UGC)
set up under UGC Act 1956 is
responsible for coordination,
determination, and maintenance
of standards and release of grants
to universities and research
organizations .

4. Functions of Higher Education:
Teaching, Research and Extension Activities.
Indian higher education system is third largest in
the world.
3.85 Crore students, and 27.1% GER, 14 Lakh
Teachers
There are 1043 Universities, 42343 Colleges and
11779 Stand Alone Institutions listed on AISHE
web portal .
307 Universities are affiliating i.e. having Colleges.

5. 5
396 Universities are privately managed.
420 Universities are located in rural area.
There are………….
522 General,
177 Technical,
63 Agriculture & Allied,
66 Medical,
23 Law,
12 Sanskrit and 11 Language Universities and rest
145 Universities are of other Categories.
College density, i.e. the number of colleges per lakh eligible
population (population in the age-group 18-23 years) varies from 7
in Bihar to 59 in Karnataka as compared to All India average of
30.

6. 6
Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher education in India is
27.1, which is calculated for 18-23 years of age group.
GER for male population is 26.9 and for female, it is 27.3.
For Scheduled Castes, it is 23.4 and for Scheduled Tribes, it
is 18.0 as compared to the national GER of 27.1.
Maximum numbers of Students are enrolled in
B.A. programme(32.7%)
B.Sc. (16%)
B.Com. Programmes (14.9%) and
Engineering and Technology (12.6%)

10. Connectivity
Health

14. Present Pandemic Situation
• Covid-19 pandemic brought the entire country to its knees
and people struggled to access basic health care facilities.
• In 2020 central government announced food package for 80
Cr Poor families.
• Reports of deaths of several teachers in universities and
colleges is the loss of national intellectual capital and
scholarship.
• But there is still lack of serious consideration for the safety of
campuses which may vulnerable sites for spreading infection at
the community level.
• About 75% students from Rural background.
• About 91.2 crore people have no Internet Facility

15. Two phases of Covid-19…
I. Challenging phase- we were not ready : Infrastructure, Competencies and
Designing online teaching content
II. Opportunity phase- opportunity for professional development, Teachers
become more dynamic,; Learning, understanding, skill development and
dissemination of knowledge from distant place.
1. Roles of Teacher have changed- Photographer, videographer, script writer,
video editor, hardware and software literate, designers of content.
2. Awareness of repositories, digital content and free sources is important.
3. Change in the institutional structure- classes and meetings-virtual and
online
4. Taught us lesson- to be open minded, be patient, providing equal
opportunity- bringing equality at least to the reachable. (Motto of Education)
5. No barrier like time and place, content and approach. Rich-poor, region and
religion.
6. Accessibility by anybody and by anyone, teaching to the entire world and
learning from the entire world; Local to global.

16. Categories: 4 levels of Institutions worked in Covid-19
1. All Educational activities have deferred and the down time
period becomes a proxy vacation
2. Videos are uploaded on you tube and assignments
collected through E-mails.
3. Combination of tools incorporated LMS(moodle, Google
classroom), Conference tools(Zoom, skype, google meet etc),
Extensive use of MOOCs(SWAYAM, Coursera, Edx) and
Assessment tools like (Quizlet and peer evaluation tools)
4. Classes are conducted according to the timetable but in
synchronous online mode aided by LMS with high level
functionality of all tools in the third level.

17. Initiatives: MHRD and State government & College
• MHRD initiative National Mission on Education through ICT
• Credit courses- SWAYAM- MOOC platform equalant to regular
course (credits can be transferred)
• Swayam Prabha- TV programmes.
• Radio Programmes…
• Own Youtube channels
• Podcasting….(Audio and Video)
• Online Post, Publication, Record Creation, Report Development,
correction and other activities…
• ICT based activities; synchronous and asynchronous modes,
Teaching-learning, supervision, Evaluation

18. E-Teaching,
E-Learning,
E-Training,
E-Monitoring,
E-Examination,
E-Evaluation,
E-Supervision,
E-Administration and
Finally …………………E-

25. Is online Education a viable alternative?
• Equity and access are two bigger problems with
online Education in India. (affordable-Economic aspect)
• According National sample survey- only 11% of
Indian Households have computers, 24% have
internet facilities, which drops to 15% in rural
areas.
• A single device in household cannot help
multiple children.

26. Budget for Education
• 2009 to 2014 3.19% of Total budget
• 2014 to 2019 2.88% average Budget
• Feb 2020 Budget on Education- 99300 Cr
• Based on the cost and population 1995
Education Budget is almost same in 2019
• Education Mafia- Commercialization and
Privatization.

32. Learning Theories: Must be base for Online Teaching
• Behaviorism: Attempt & error, stimulus & response. programmed
instruction- (Impact on Teaching)
• Cognitivism: Information processing, Formation of cognitive structures,
Human mind–Computer; STM & LTM, Computer Aided Instruction (IOT)
• Constructivism: “Recognition and reconstruction’’ Experience based
learning- Influence of others on in individual learning (IOT)
• Social constructivism: Learning is social and social participation, “learn
from one another” ZPD and theory of scaffolding (IOT)
• Connectivism: last 20 years, cloud computing, social networking.
Learning is creating networks. Nodes- People, library, Laboratory, books,
databases, websites, organisations and any other sources.
• Humanism: Practicing Morality, value of an individual and personal
freedom, Emphasise Human dignity.

33. Myths about online Education
1. Online education is for young and tech savvy: All teachers have to make a
clear and conscious shift despite their age and attitude.
2. Online teaching is a stopgap arrangement: Online teaching has become
an integral part of our education system. Those who embrace technology
will survive.
3. Online teaching is not egalitarian (equal, open): all students need smart
phone, laptop and internet certainly help all students because of flexibility.
4. Technology eventually replace teacher: Teachers cannot be replaced but
roles have been changed; content designers, syllabus developers,
knowledge sharers.
5. Students prefer face to face interaction not online teaching: Both
technology and teachers are need by the students, every time teachers
cant help and provide opportunity for independent learning.
6. Online teaching is not effective as face to face mode: A good teacher will
adjust the content and delivery according to the mode and context.
7. Degrees and diplomas obtained through online mode are not valid:
Online and offline degrees are virtually same.

34. Reimagining Examinations:
• Supreme Court had stated last year- students in higher education
cannot be promoted without writing the final year or terminal semester
examinations and directed to the UGC.
• The UGC rules clearly stated that the degree cannot be granted
without examination.
• Examinations may be conducted online or offline or combination of
both methods. A new examination method could be crafted by considering
the educational objectives of Understanding, critical and independent
thinking, problem solving ability and reflective thinking, skill development
and application of knowledge.
• To restrict copying, answer scripts may be assessed using plagiarism
software with technology tools, monitoring and supervision of students
during online examinations.
• An alternative approach may be Open book Examination.
• Bridge course is also Needed

35. Expectations……..
• Students: Digitally literate, Use Digital content, Attend Online
Tests, Assignment.
• Teachers: Digitally well literate, Awareness of online repositories,
Studio based competencies, Content creators-Digital content,
Online teaching, Assessment, evaluation, Correction, and
Monitoring, counselling individual and groups.
• Managements: Update classrooms, ICT improvisations, hire online
teachers, Content developers, software developers Etc….Reaching
Remote learner, Develop digital library.
• Policy Makers: (NEP-60% Offline,40% online), Restructure the
workload(16hrs)
• Government: Government needs to be an enabler, evangelist for
online education to flourish. Rural India struggles bandwidth
issue.(Lowest in the world)

36. May-10 UGC suggested measures to adopt for HEIs.
• Constitute task force and setting up helplines, roping in
counsellors and mentors for providing mental health support and
enabling of well-being of all stake holders, creating a team of
well-informed volunteers trained in life skills, including the NCC
and NSS.
• State government should provide disinfectants and face masks
in each of their districts and zones in consultation with higher
education institutes and draw out a plan for distribution.
• Sufficient supply of these items to students, faculty and staff.
• Each institution should tie up with state run hospitals for taking
care of infected person.

37. • Explicit budgetary allocations for Higher
education institutes for COVID-19 management
were found to be missing in the states’ annual
budgets.
• The resources could come from the State
Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for the year
2021-22 which was released by the department
of expenditure at the recommendation of the
ministry of Home affairs much before normal
schedule.

38. WHO and UNESCO suggested… Prepare for school/Colleges opening:
1. Schools and colleges must have an operational budgets adapted to the
situation
2. Boost the confidence of parents, students, teachers in-terms of school
/college safety
3. Renovate or improve hygiene facilities; washrooms, toilets and bathrooms
with running water.
4. Collaborate and support education stakeholders; Teachers, students,
school principals/Heads, Education officers, Educational supervisors and
Pedagogical advisors.
5. Develop partnership with NGOs, and Private actors.
6. Make equity a top priority-students who have not able to participate in
online or home based learning.
7. Support Physical and Emotional well-being(mental health of students)
pandemic caused stress and anxiety
8. Trust the professionalism of Teachers: Assess the impact of school/college
closure on Teaching, Learning and Student well-being.

39. Discuss
Plan
Action
PROTECT and IMPROVE the Quality
of Higher Education

40. “If you fail to plan,
you are planning to fail”
Benjamin Franklin
“Those who fail to learn from the
past are doomed to repeat it”
Winston Churchill

41. Thank You
Dr. Jagannath K. Dange
Professor
Department of Education
Kuvempu University
Shankaraghatta
Dist: Shimoga,
Karnataka
drjkdange@gmail.com
http://jkdange.blogspot.com