Adjusting with the Disaster [Special Editorial]

Just like in personal lives, some significant events at a larger scale warrant a change or shift in the way we do things or at least perceive and anticipate things. A lot has been going on with this pandemic. We have witnessed a behavioral change, even a cultural or religious belief halt, adjustment in social interaction, shopping and eating habit maneuvers, a fracture on a traditional way of life. 

Life is digitalized. This has been so quick; we can hardly imagine. This happened before we could even internalize it. The virtual world has come to our rescue in a number of fonts when the real world has shrunken. Service providers have gone online. Schools and Universities have gone online. Government has gone line. There is so much you can go on and on. 

It took only a couple of days for universities to move classes online because many things were already in place. Most of the universities already had online classes. Schools quickly responded by redesigning and modeling classes in an online platform. Look at this, how long does it take to respond; when we have no options, but resources available and commitment from the leadership and people working for the change. Zoom, skype, google class, team and the like are the norm of the activities and daily life for many. 

As the classes have moved from the traditional matrix into a new paradigm of a virtual world, parents have to be teachers at home. Although there are actual teachers behind the scene, there are expectations from parents. This transition is not smooth for many of us. This is a challenge for many of our resettled Bhutanese families. Many families do not have capabilities; both educational and technical to accept this task. However, the principal objective here is not grading but enhance learning and collaboration. We will learn through it and get thought it. 

This is just a part of ‘living with the crisis’. A crisis is not anticipated, but when we have one; we have to live with it and survive with it. It is painful, but we will get through it together.