Search for Equal Access to Learning: Perspectives of Rural Parents on Home Based Online Education in Sri Lanka During Covid 19 Pandemic

Abstract

In the context of Covid 19 pandemic, what we witness within the macro social system is rapid weakening of social institutions like education. With Covid 19, educational institutions became worst casualties with governments deciding to close them. eLearning is currently the delivery mode, but many were unprepared attitudinally and structurally for it. Moving away from traditional methods to eLearn mode created unanticipated challenges for students and parents; being compelled to operate from home. It was not so productive as anticipated, according to researchers (Kara & Gok, 2020, Klapproth et al, 2020), and the overwhelming majority almost globally had no proper internet facilities for online learning. Users complained about eyesight issues as they had to use inappropriate devices (Ullah, Ashraf, Shanza &Sajad ,2020). In Sri Lanka's rural areas, devoid of basic learning facilities, this study examines the perspectives of parents. A descriptive qualitative design and manual thematic analysis were used to analyze qualitative data obtained from 50 rural parents whose children attend five schools in the Northwestern, North Central, and Northern Provinces. Travel restrictions necessitated telephone interviews. The study reveals that many children do not concentrate properly during online sessions, parents’ technical knowledge on eLearning was insufficient to help children, they were constrained by burdens of childcare, became victims of high economic costs, even sparking off domestic unrest affecting the children and their parents. The study has implications for State policy on education especially regarding infrastructure needs, if home-based eLearning is to be pursued in Sri Lanka as a viable option during the New Normal phase of life.