We often mistake education to be within the confinement of small classrooms, with a teacher dictating chapters mathematics, literature and science with content written on a green board with white chalk.

What we overlook is that education starts at home, from the moment children open their eyes and start observing the world around them. The key role of parents in their child's early years is to leave a positive impression, along with valuable life skills and lessons that contribute to the child's development, and decisions as an adult.

With the pandemic hitting the planet, the education system worldwide has taken a major U-turn. We were living in an unexpected and unprecedented time. The pandemic had an enormous impact on global education as more than 1.3 billion learners were unable to go to school. (As per article by UNESCO, dated 29th April 2020). With the entire country in lockdown, students were forced to stay indoors. And to keep the education system running, the teaching learning process had to be changed to the online mode.

Educating children in the learning process in the Post-Covid era is not only the task of the teacher, but at this time parents are required to guide and look after children’s learning at home. The changing times have given rise to many new challenges in education. Parents are required to play an active role in guiding their children to study as children remained confined to their homes. Parents at home must know the lessons they have to follow every day. The child’s assignments have to be completed. Most importantly, parents must provide time to guide their children to study at home every day.

In the past few years, parents have become very busy in their own lives to pay regular attention to their children’s academics. It should be remembered that teachers and parents have an equally important role in education. Parents need to be open to changes in order to be able to anticipate the challenges of accelerating in the world of education which are mostly done virtually. In some ways, it is a learning experience for the parents as well as the students. Another step in ensuring the continuous learning process of the students is to provide a learning workspace for them. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a classroom but a space to keep them focused.

Upholding a proper routine helps a child in the long run. A routine is not just about waking up and starting school. A proper routine also encourages having breaks between courses. Just because the student is at home doesn’t mean that they would go through the entire school day without a break. There should be lunch breaks between periods to give that feeling of being at a regular school. Giving a break to the student from the study space for a short amount of time to will help build productivity and remove the chances of boredom.

The most important role of a parent is that of being a motivator and encouraging their child when they start virtual schooling. The parent becomes the friend, the teacher, and the classmate altogether. Parents , as a friend, should motivate the student if they struggle with a particular topic. As the teacher, it is their responsibility to provide a more structured classroom when the need arises. On the other hand, when a child feels isolated, the parent should include the student so that they do not feel alone. However one should not be overbearing and become a point of pressure on the student.

Studying is not the only activity that a student should participate in. The student must get involved in social activities outside the home, like sports. Socialization is of utmost importance as a child is growing up. Since they lose the socialization built into a traditional school system, it motivates them to get involved elsewhere. The parents should help them to recognize that this is an integral part of their development.

Distance learning using networks or online learning has many challenges faced by parents. They experience new teaching patterns and ways of teaching. Learning places are transformed and can be done at home, public places, and so on. So, it is the collaboration of both the parents and the teachers that will help the students improve themselves.