With the COVID-19 pandemic now spreading throughout the globe, no one had foreseen the cataclysmic modification of the educational system. As per an estimate, 1.3-1.5 Billion students are affected due to the pandemic. This has pushed the institutions to change their age old lecture-based practice to new innovative solutions in a short span of time. In China, students got access to learning via live television broadcasts whereas the most common method in other countries was to go ahead with face-to-face video instructions in real time. However, it is not all sunshine for the students in less developed economies. Around the globe, approximately 60% of the population is online so the quality of learning leans on the access to the World Wide Web. It is because of this digital divide that children tend to lose out on basic education which further widens the socio-economic disparities. In some countries, where nutrition was a component of education in the form of free meals, children get compromised on both the fronts with the closure of schools. Also working parents find it difficult to facilitate the learning of their children especially when both of them are healthcare workers in these testing times. The dropout rates also tend to increase when schools reopen after closure partly due to the economic shocks that financially distressed families are facing currently. In these new emerging scenarios, the academic calendars have been disrupted and it has been stressful for teachers as well who are not used to working with technology. In upcoming days, we might witness fewer kids going out of town for studies may it be locally or overseas, sports will take its own to get reinstated with schools working in two or three shifts to maintain and manage social distancing. Going forward in time, the teacher’s role is going to be redefined. In the classrooms of tomorrow teachers won’t be only lecturing but now will be contributing towards the development of the youth and as an active participant in the society. With more and more sources now available, the content of education will be emphasised more. At the same time, we would have to change the perceptions of what the students want by collaborating with them on their learning needs with active engagement of the community so that when they can act as absorbers in case another shock comes in our journey of life.
