Editor
Through the columns of your esteemed newspaper, I would like to focus on the new era of education and its effects amidst the COVID19 pandemic. As a university student, I believe I am among the privileged lot that has access to the appropriate infrastructure to learn through the portals of online education. Meanwhile, I also ask myself if we as a country, full of knowledge producers and learners, are ready to switch to a form of education that is not viable or highly accessible.
In a technologically advancing India, is adopting digital learning the way to bridge the literacy gap that prevails in the country? Out of the 3.2 million students formally enrolled in educational institutions, 56% of them do not even have access to smart phones, let alone the internet. Despite the government launching education portals like DIKSHA and Swayam, the reach of these platforms is limited to those who own the infrastructure needed to be a part of this education system, which is not a big majority. I believe that the educators of this country will agree with me when I say, that this form of learning is exasperating the existing social, economic and educational gap of this country.
My request to all Indians, willing and able is (a) To educate students in our localities that wish to study but do not have the access to education (b) To spread the knowledge, we possess and have privilege access, to those who lack the basic physical space and infrastructure to obtain the learning they have a right over (c)To allow children to come and use our homes as a space for learning and a place that helps them grow and receive the correct education in an appropriate environment with sufficient supplies.
In writing this letter I wish to inform all Indians to participate in narrowing the digital divide in this era of learning which is also dividing the country.
Yours etc.,
Jayeesha Taneja
HQ EAC, IAF
Shillong- 9
“Depression” can defeat COVID patients
Editor,
When uncertainty and worries come calling, the body’s immune system tends to crash. Yet there is enough scientific evidence that a strong immune system also comes from a healthy mind and healthy body. And COVID-19 can be fought only with better immunity. It’s an accepted fact that due to the pandemic, the a large majority of the weaker section of people are in the most difficult situation. Their financial hardship is beyond our understanding. Each poor person is now in a situation where he/ she has very a painful tale to tell so far as his/her day-to-day livelihood is concerned. Therefore, poor people might feel totally lost and disoriented when they are suddenly picked up and sent for quarantine away from home.
I don’t want to dwell much on the medical formalities which I find less important here. But what I am really concerned about is the “psychological” aspect and how that really affects their immune system while battling the virus.
Many families have met have expressed their deep sense of “grief” when their breadwinner or family member is taken away or asked for immediate isolation. The poor persons in isolation too have a load of family worries, more precisely, about whether the family is able to get their two-time meals and other basic essentials for their children and wives. Practically there is no one to support their family members when they are in quarantine or at COVID care centers. They also don’t have enough space at home for quarantine as the entire family live in one or two rooms. These factors add to their anxieties in many ways. So, in this worrying situation, they obviously have “low levels” of immunity, with the exception of a few rare cases. I wish the Government would also look into the “psychological aspect” of an individual/patient. Truly, the physical metabolism and immune system of a human body go down when one is psychologically affected and “depressed”. A resident of Garikhana confided that due to quarantine isolation his aged father, who had returned from Kolkata, experienced deep depression which consequently gave rise to other health complications. Thankfully he was at home they could immediately call a private doctor for the other treatment and anxiety counseling. What if that aged person were taken far away from home for the quarantine? Many unfortunate things could have been possible. “Negative” could have been “positive” next day and “positive” could have led directly to the crematorium — without any contacts with the beloved family members!
If we do not take the potential traumatic aspect of an individual’s mental status into account then all our arrangements and missions to fight the virus without vaccines is totally inadequate and farcical. This is my personal observation. Hence I sincerely appeal to the Government to take the mental health aspect at this time into consideration. With the fatality rate increasing by the day, the consequences ahead could be serious. Perhaps mental health problems of which depression is one could be the prime cause of the rise in the death rates.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong