“Hope doesn’t require a massive chain
where heavy links of logic hold it together. A thin wire will do…just strong
enough to get us through the night until the winds die down.” Amidst the
neoteric virus these wisdom words of Charles R. Swindoll abet us to maintain
the calm within ourselves.
In the name of COVID-19 a respiratory
illness has come to put the whammy on the entire world and is ravaging the
entire human race. The virus emerged in the Wuhan city of China in December
2019 and as a new year jinx has travelled across more than 70 countries. The
demon interestingly seems to be unbiased towards people in terms of caste,
class, place or religion and a cosmic adorner of nature. The hellion has the
capacity to make people sit idle for days who used to rant of not having a
minute to breathe and to make people hygiene freak for whom bathing only on
festivals was a ritual. The virus paid its visit to India in the month when
everyone celebrates love and has consequentially forced us to stay inside the
house with our loved ones. The country has adopted social distancing and
lockdown as a precautionary measure against the epidemic which has caused a
profound impact on educational and professional health of the country.
The legal profession and education
sector are facing their peculiar hardship in combating the novel corona virus
disease. Law is an interaction dominant domain therefore practicing it in
isolation is not viable. The major problem is being faced by the final semester
students of law schools as they are stuck on the verge of ending graduation and
beginning of future avenues. Every student aspires to live each day of the last
semester and collect all the memories in their golden bag but this viral
disease has snatched the opportunity to live the last few days of the law
school and has gifted anxiety of ‘HOW & WHEN’ viz ‘how and when will the semester end or will it be extended’
‘how and when will exams be conducted’ ‘how and when will we complete our
syllabus’ ‘how and when will we get our degree’ ‘how and when the previous
semester be declared’. The final semester calls out for many practical
interactive exercises as a part of the final assessment which has now turned
obscure. The pandemic has caused an impediment in progressing with the studies
as students are not sufficed with handy study materials or the lectures of the
teachers. The ongoing internships have abruptly been suspended till further
notice due the spread of this fatal disease and all the efforts of the students
in securing such internships have gone into vain. It also has created a feeling
of jitter in the minds of the students in regards of future course of action to
be taken towards building their legal career as due to the economic clench being
faced by the world as a footprint of the demonic virus, the companies have put
their placement offers on hold till the re-stabilisation of the economy putting
students into dilemma of heading towards the job or to take up post graduation
courses. The judicial aspirants are under trepidation of delay in obtaining
their degree which may further ingest many opportunities to appear for such
exams. Also it has become difficult to study for the competitive exams due unavailability
of documented reading material, books and personal guidance of the teachers as
there is no access to institute, library or to the book stores.
However the teachers have devised the
platform of teaching online through different applications in order to combat
the effects of the corona virus disease and also by providing constant e-study
materials to be discussed in the class beforehand to keep in continuation the
efficient teaching learning process. Also they are taking compulsory attendance
in order to ensure sobriety of these classes. The law schools have made all the
study material available online on their websites for the references of the
students in order to avoid any hardship while reading for the examination and
have also provided the mailing address of their teachers which can be accessed
by the students in case of doubts. But this online teaching and learning
process from home is full of challenges for both the teachers and the students
as it is very difficult to create a classroom environment at home and to avoid
the background noise of the household. For the people who live in a joint
family it becomes very strenuous to a find a silent room for three-four hours
without any interruptions. Also many students who put up at remote areas face
internet connection issues which cause hindrance in their learning process.
Some of the students are unable to gather attention to the lecture without the
actual presence of the teacher and also they feel lethargic to take these
lessons. But as quoted by Martin Luther King Jr. “If you can’t fly then run, if
you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you
have to keep moving forward” it is better to grab something than nothing at all
and until the lockdown continues the students can work upon their listening and
reading skills, it is a good time to read lengthy enriching judgements and to
brush up your legal apprehension skills. Teachers can also provide for making
of assignments and vocal presentations on various topics with strict deadlines to
ensure the serious involvement of the students in the learning process.
If the people of India tenaciously vow
to practice social distancing and maintain cleanliness in their surroundings by
properly sanitising their body, the private and public spaces then the
situation to put lockdown won’t arise and the economy can run in a balanced
manner as lockdowns and curfews pave the path for the problem of police
brutality and infringement of right to movement as it grants the unfettered powers
in the hands of police authorities to restrict movement which can be easily
misused by them. It also spouts the problem of hunger due to unavailability of
work and income to the daily wage earner which is violative against the
fundamental right to live with dignity.
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