Education is now like a privilege in this digital era. With the success of the Digital India Program in India education has now become limited only to the hands of the blessed children. For people who can afford luxury and comfort, education is only available to them. In India education is no more free and affordable to everyone as it has preceded the online medium. Though through online education every student will get an equal opportunity to access the study materials only if they have the means to buy the study materials.

E-education Is Only For The Privileged:

We could say that the privileged children who have access to an internet connection and a device that leads them to access e-education are the only students who can study further beyond classrooms. While in offline education, even the poor students got the facility to go to their village school set up by the government from where they got daily meals. These meals were a source of attraction for the students to go to school daily and receive an education. But through online classes neither do the poor have the means to attend online classes or nor do they have the urge to get educated.

What About The Students Who Cannot Afford eEducation?

With the following economy and the increasing prices of goods, the poor children start walking with their parents at a very young age and give up on their education. Though if online or E-education is utilized in a proper way it can reduce inequalities and bring a good outcome of education in India. There will not be a bias among the genders or among students between urban and rural areas. Students from all over the world will be able to access the study materials irrespective of who they are and where they come from.

Increase In The Number Of Dropouts In The Online Mode Of Education:

With the lockdown which was the result of the pandemic caused by Covid-19, we have seen how the number of dropouts from schools and colleges has increased. Many businesses and offices have shut down and these days education being a costly affair is no more affordable for everyone. Only the people who have the means and access to unlimited data are the people who can get educated. While the rest of the students either have to drop out or wait for education to get back to the normal offline mode in classrooms and campuses.

Does The Online Mode Of Education Have Any Impact On The Existing Inequalities?

To talk about the existing inequalities in the sphere of education was mainly based on gender or on the financial status of the students. While the financial status of students is still a huge criterion for receiving education in India, gender bias will definitely be overlooked while we are in an online mode of education. Keeping aside the existing inequalities, the online mode has given rise to new inequities which will take time to adapt with the students.

Final Words:

Thus, it can be said that the online mode of education has its own pros and cons. Though, according to me, the cons are more as the economic stability of a student's family cannot be the deciding factor if he will be educated or not and will flourish in his life or not. E-education is the new mode of education that is being adopted by the whole world now due to the pandemic. It is seen that students have adapted pretty well to the new mode of education.