By Dr. Abdul Sattar
Online education has become the default solution in Pakistan for every emergency – from heatwaves and smog to floods and unrest. What started as a temporary measure during Covid days is now trying to permanently replace classroom teaching.
In Pakistan’s situation, it is not delivering the !benefit, as desired. The result is a significant loss of knowledge, skills, discipline, and academic confidence. _Evidence from faculty and employers suggests many who graduated online now struggle with communication, analytical reasoning, and critical-thinking skills._
The problem is not technology itself. Globally, digital tools sustain education during crises. In Pakistan, online teaching often becomes one-way. Teachers speak to blank screens while students log in to disengage. Cameras stay off, participation declines, and human interaction disappears.
Many households still lack internet, electricity, or dedicated devices, making continuity an aspiration, not a reality. According to HEC’s 2022 survey, over 40% of public university students reported connectivity issues during online semesters, and Punjab’s repeated smog-related closures in 2023-24 pushed thousands back to unmonitored online classes.
Assessment systems suffer too. Unsupervised exams encourage copying and answer-sharing. Grades improve, but learning outcomes do not. We measure success through marks while ignoring the erosion of knowledge.
Technology can support education in emergencies, but it must never replace the classroom, which remains central to learning.
Other countries treated online learning as temporary. Finland invested in teacher training and mental health. South Korea paired laptops with oversight and digital literacy. Vietnam used TV and radio extensively, but returned to classrooms quickly and ran recovery programs.
Pakistan gave laptops without training or purpose. Many students use them for entertainment. Our deeper failure is a lack of commitment across the ecosystem—among policymakers, institutions, educators, students, and parents. Learning cannot be reduced to logging in or downloading notes.
Recovery must start now. Universities should become lifelong learning institutions and recall all graduates, especially those taught online, for mandatory in-person short courses, just as doctors pursue continuous professional development.
*Seven Steps to Rebuild Learning:*
*1. Diagnostic Assessments*: Map gaps and teach to student needs, not the calendar.
*2. Retrain Teachers*: Build skills in classroom teaching, blended learning, digital literacy, and engagement.
*3. Learning Recovery Programs*: Run intensive after-school and especially summer interventions in literacy and numeracy.
*4. Restore Integrity*: Return to supervised, in-person exams that test understanding, not memorization.
*5. Cap Online & Audit All Grades*: Online teaching may be used only for short, defined emergencies. It must never be the basis for final grades or semester results. Once physical classes resume, all online-based grades must be re-verified through supervised, in-person assessments.
*6. Rebuild Physical Infrastructure*: Prioritize electricity, internet, and device access. Educational institutions may partner with telcos for subsidized educational data.
*7. Student Mentorship & Character Building*: Assign every 30 students a faculty mentor for weekly in-person sessions/tutorials. Focus on communication, debate, and ethics. We lost more than the syllabus online — we lost the classroom’s role in building confidence and character.
Education is human interaction, mentorship, discussion, and character building besides content delivery. A generation is affected, but it is not lost—if we act decisively. Pakistan’s youth remain our greatest asset, and the question is not whether learning was lost, but whether we have the vision and commitment to recover it.
