Being heard and seen is an important part of teaching for both teachers and students, otherwise the exercise is futile,” says Hadley Quadros, faculty member at St Andrew’s College, Bandra, and an organiser of the webinar The Paradoxical Lens: Education during the Pandemic. Quadros states that the classroom is the best place to get equipped with tools to navigate life as critical, thinking individuals, but that isn’t always the case, especially since the transition to online learning where digital inaccessibility has hindered many.

“Everyone has become accustomed to statements about digital education, blended and hybrid models of learning, app-based initiatives, and so on. This, despite the fact that a large number of children across India have not stepped into classrooms for a couple of years,” says Dr Swati Moitra, professor, Gurudas College, Kolkata, who is a speaker at the event. Quadros elaborates that teachers have refined their offline teaching methods over years, and to quickly adapt to a digital format has been difficult. He feels that irrespective of the challenges, teachers and parents have shown up to support students.