The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has deeply affected the field of education, as in other areas of life. Almost all countries in the world have suspended the education of children and youth with a mobile population to reduce the spread of the virus.
China, Germany, France and some states of the USA rapidly switched to online education. Countries with previous online/virtual education experience gain advantage and further strengthen their online education systems.
What is Education?
Education is the effort of shaping, improving and developing the thoughts and behaviors of human beings to increase their harmony and productivity in line with the predetermined goals related to the present and future. The knowledge, skills and attitudes gained through education increase the awareness of being an individual and belonging, develop their personality and make them more valuable.
Importance of education
A knowledge worker must have various information, skills and abilities in order to be successful in today’s increasingly intense competitive conditions. Because of all these, investment in education continues to increase. Without training and development, it is not possible to update employees’ competencies, skills and experiences required for the job and to increase their performance in a way that affects organizational results.
Training and development is an element that protects productivity and supports the preparation of employees for their future jobs. Investment in education is an investment in the individual, the organization, and society for social responsibility. Increasing investment in education is an indicator that the importance given to the human or labor factor is increasing and that this factor is becoming more aware of its effect on productivity.
The notion that education is an unnecessary investment is no longer valid. Businesses have to adapt to the rapidly changing external environment. One of the main reasons that require the training and development of employees in order to catch up with change; Due to the rapid development, change and competition in the external environment, there are problems such as the change of duty in the enterprises, the inadequacy of the employee with the continuous renewal of technology, alienation or adaptation problem. It is possible to increase the performance of employees by learning new information and improving themselves. It is very difficult or even impossible for business organizations that do not attach importance to education to increase the success and productivity of their employees and therefore to maintain their existence under intense competition conditions.
Pandemic period, online education and the future of education in Turkey
StudySehir Educational Consultancy CEO, Adnan Saif says ‘’The pandemic process tells us that nothing is independent from the other; It showed that we are moving towards a new world order in which the relations of education, health, economy, politics, religion and sociology will be reinterpreted.’’
How this experience will affect the education system and the future of education and what its repercussions will be in the near future is the subject that needs to be focused on. From this point of view, Yuval Noah Harari, in his article titled ‘The World After Coronavirus’, states that the decisions that governments will make nowadays will shape health, economy, politics and culture all over the world in the coming years, and underlines that we will now live in a different world after the coronavirus pandemic, and emergency situations will accelerate historical processes.
Adnan Saif ‘’Short-term measures taken in emergency situations will become a part of normal life after a while and gain a permanent quality,’’ says.
From this point of view, it can be said that online education, which has been put into practice on a mandatory and temporary basis today due to the pandemic, will continue even if the conditions return to normal after a while and will not return to the old days completely.
Although we do not yet have sufficient data on the effects and success of online education, this compulsory social experiment shows that some courses at basic education and secondary education can be taught by online education. Particularly for the purpose of obtaining information, it may be considered that some of the lessons or some of the lessons that the student can learn and achieve by reading can be done through online education.
In this context, it is necessary to see that the world is moving towards a mixed model where face to face education and online education are intertwined. In addition, such applications can create more time for schools for social emotional learning experiences and design skill workshop applications.
We need to see that the age of schools, the product of the industrial society, which are planned for more people to receive a standard education, do not take into account individual differences and needs, and are built for fabricated production.
Adnan Saif ‘’Social systems such as school organizations do not give the desired and expected responses, especially to innovation initiatives imposed from outside. One of the major causes of the failure of change initiatives in education in Turkey, important laws related to education increased in almost all of the extraordinary period and is forced to change the education system from the outside.’’
‘’For example, after the 1960 revolution, the Primary Education and Education Law was enacted in 1961, the National Education Basic Law in 1973 after the 1971 memorandum, and the Higher Education Law in 1981 after the 1980 revolution. All these laws were passed during interim periods when democracy was interrupted. Turkey closed the period with a successful exam given by the blown democracy.’’
Health is forced education to change
Educational organizations are forced to change by a different power this time. The name of this power is health. The health problems experienced force educational organizations to change their teaching methods and techniques, and to review their education programs as a necessity of changing social life.
The process underway strongly emphasizes the importance and priority of health. Unlike previous change initiatives, this situation develops as a natural process and evolves with the support and participation of educational circles. This process tested the resilience of all of us, especially the life skills we have. From this point of view, the education system continues to test the psychological resilience of students with the same methods and techniques, with an exam-oriented, knowledge-accumulating approach, without considering individual differences.
Such practices harm students in many ways, especially mental health; it causes students to stay away from school and find what is done is meaningless and worthless. Think about it this way, what would happen if a doctor gave the same medicine to all of the patients who came that day? To simulate, this is exactly what is done at school. Regardless of the individual differences and needs of the students, all students are given the same information in the same environment, using the same methods.
Also, another point that needs to be emphasized is the fact that education exists to raise people. One of the most important features that distinguish human beings from other living things is that it can produce value.
Freedom is one of these values. Health as a coercive force, forces people to choose between their freedom and health.
