Experts discuss methods to curb down cases of Cyber Security Breaches amid the pandemic

PRATHAM TEST PREP took up an opportunity to discuss the readiness of the education industry with the challenges that came along with e-learning post COVID. This was done through an online platform link to which is now accessible on all official platforms of PRATHAM TEST PREP, including the PRATHAM TEST PREP Youtube Channel. This was done keeping in mind UNESCO's call upon teachers, parents, education authorities, tech industry and others to encourage everyone to take a part in preventing online violence for the safety and wellbeing of children and youth.

Our esteemed panellists - Ms. Manisha Malhotra, Principal Sriram School Moulsarai, and Ms. Minakshi Kushwaha, Birla Vidya Niketan School along with Mr. Saurabh Nanda, International Youth Mentor as our moderator, graced the occasion with their presence and invaluable insights.

Ms. Manisha has been in the field of education for about 25 years and offers over a decade of experience in heading a school offering both national and international curriculum. A passionate educator, she believes that every child can learn and is a leader. Limitations are those of our mind. She also helped establish and implement the IB program and Cambridge International programmes at Moulsari. She loves when she helps students discover the 'Aha' of their life.

Our other guest, Ms. Minakshi Kushwaha has been teaching computer science since July 1987. She feels strongly about imparting holistic education and has been doing the same for her 3900 students including 104 special children and 863 from the EWS/DG categories. Spread over 6.5 acres the Wi-Fi enabled school which runs on solar energy has a state of art infrastructure consisting of sports facilities like swimming, gymnasium, badminton courts, skating rink, table tennis, football, cricket, basketball, volley ball, and net ball. She always encourages her students to participate in social outreach programmes, for which the school offers all equipment and support the students need. The school understands the importance of effective IT systems and focuses on ensuring that the staff is capable, active, updated and progressive.

The pandemic helped the teachers, especially in traditional educational set ups to realize their dynamic potential. It also helped the teachers to utilize digital tools to connect with the students which closed some communication gaps offering both students and educators a mutual learning opportunity. This also allowed schools and other educational institutes to inculcate technology in their pedagogy. Flip learning created a role reversal with students assisting teachers in learning the new software, which improved the student-teacher relationship. 'Child is the father of man.' An apt quote by William Wordsworth concluded this fragment of our discussion.

Several methods of engaging the students to make up for the absence of interactive classroom activities were explored by schools and the technology which had initially seemed like a challenge became a great tool of learning. Over the past two years, technology has been a powerful tool in transforming learning. With the onset of the pandemic, it helped affirm and advance the relationships between educators and students, and reinvent the teaching-learning methods. The schools, universities and other educational institutions became incubators of exploration; with time focus shifted to shrinking long-standing accessibility gaps and adapting learning experiences to meet the needs of all learners. It is now an essential tool of teaching-learning and schools plan on continuing using it even after going back to physical classes because it allows them to reach out to a bigger group of students. Ms. Manisha feels exhilarated to now be able to have students from across the world as education becomes more globalized due to the internet.

However, as every coin has two sides, it was another section of our discussion on how schools dealt with equipping the schools with the latest technology to keep up with the rapid demands of the times. Along with the wonders came the concern that the year 2020 has detected more than 8 million malware incidents ? with education being the most affected industry. A rush towards e-learning exposed the field to cyber-attacks. As the looming threats of Cyber predators, Phishing, Distributed Denial-of-Service, Data Breach, ransomware, IoT Vulnerabilities, Malicious Ads, identity theft, phishing scams through online gaming, Malicious social media messaging, Cam-fecting, and social engineering, were discussed we decided to make cyber-awareness safety and cyber-security a mandatory part of e-learning. Further, the challenges faced by the students, educators and parents were also discussed. The cyber policies that the educational institutions have put in place have helped in overcoming a lot of these issues. However, it is an everlasting process with building our safety walls stronger overtime.

With a commitment of all stakeholders, including but not limited to educators and parents, researchers and policy makers, software developers and community members to use technology effectively towards education, it became of utmost importance that we strengthen the cyber security defences and provide our children with a safe and nurturing learning environment.

PRATHAM TEST PREP is on a mission to provide a holistic learning environment to children ? the future generation; it is of essence that we keep our children safe. Cyber security is a shared responsibility and it boils down to this, in cyber security the more systems we secure, the more secure we all are.

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User :- Saksham Bakshi

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