Over the past year and more the world has witnessed never before seen situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Life in every corner of the world has come to a stand-still and it has laid its demonic hands on the education sector as well. Bringing in radical changes in the entire system of teaching-learning process, homes have taken the place of physical schools.

In this novel scenario where students are experiencing partial homeschooling from the comfort of their homes, and obvious question arises in our minds – as we are getting more equipped pedagogically and technologically to cater to the needs of the 21st century education system – will the relevance of schools as social and physical spaces diminish altogether? The flexibility of conducting and attending classes from anywhere in the world has given us an enormous liberty without compromising considerably on the quality of education.

Although the situation seems a perfectly harmonious one, we must pause and think about the role of the schools in the learners’ lives. Some of the more obvious ramifications come in the form of lack of concentration, stress on physical and mental health. The absence of the physical schooling system is undoubtedly a big blow to the multitude of activities that ensures a holistic development of the learners. In addition to all these, we cannot afford to ignore the marginalized strata of the society that finds fulfillment through the physical schooling system.

It has to be admitted that there is a difference between the two and all our efforts are directed towards minimising that difference.

Physical schools have always been quintessence of the learners’ overall learning outcome. So they have been and will always be relevant in the comprehensive procedure of teaching and learning.