Wherever I sit—within the usual safety protocols—I hear discussions about education’s stance toward e-learning. Many speak of the “failure” of distance learning, insisting it cannot achieve its goals. Such voices express despair about the future of education in our country, questioning: Where is this path leading? Why such negativity in the face of a global crisis?
Why, in the midst of a pandemic, do some resist e-learning, when distance education has become a traditional system worldwide? We are still struggling against it, not because of the crisis itself, but because of an unjustified crisis of mindsets that reject the culture of e-learning.
We all know that COVID-19 has posed severe challenges, completely paralyzing education in our country at the start of the global crisis. Our calls were loud—and remain so—for activating e-learning as the optimal solution. Around the world, many nations had long since integrated online education within their systems, laying down infrastructure, training students, and normalizing its use. When the crisis struck, education did not collapse—it adapted. Traditional classroom learning shifted, partially or fully, into the digital realm.
These nations felt no seismic disruption, for they had already prepared. Their systems worked within a cohesive framework that required no sudden overhaul. But we had not joined that journey. We were unprepared for an epidemic that could cripple, even paralyze, our educational process. Our bitter experience at the beginning of the pandemic revealed how far behind we were.
Yes, we began to act—but without the infrastructure or speed needed. We had not truly integrated e-learning into our institutions as others had. Our students lacked the practice and training they should have had. They and their parents were thrust into a technical learning world they did not know, struggling simply to keep education alive. And still, some continue to take negative stances, calling online education a failure. But this is misguided. E-learning is a new system—one that requires time, standards, training, and practice before it reaches maturity.
We must continue with distance learning, even after the pandemic. This is no longer a choice but a necessity, if we are to avoid another educational collapse. We must embrace e-learning not as a side option, but as a comprehensive educational system, an essential framework for managing crises. Let us join the global movement, adopting distance education as a mandatory pillar of our educational future.
