Anoop Bishnoi - Reimagining the future during the global Pandemic

COVID-19 is the world’s first global crisis in a long time and no matter where you’re from, the pandemic is affecting everyone, children now too. Not just that, it has also widened the inequality gap – the social, economic, and health impacts of this pandemic will be felt for years to come. While we must be realistic about the magnitude of the challenges confronting the world’s children, we must not forget that getting things back to the ‘normal’ is not the only thing we want now, as millions of children have lost a lot more than what we can imagine.

To recover and rebuild, we have to reimagine a better future for our children.

We recently had a conversation with Anoop Bishnoi about how he thinks we, as a community, can collaborate to revolutionize learning. Anoop is an entrepreneur by profession but also a passionate philanthropist at heart, for years he has worked in authoritative positions in reputed schools and institutes and is still working for various foundations which help to support educational causes and offer children necessary aid. Here’s what he has to say, “…when the school closures were on a peak in 2020, just over half of households in the majority of countries had internet access. Now when the schools have reopened, there is a huge learning gap that needs to be bridged urgently, which is not possible unless we bridge this digital divide. Digitally driven tools not only help children to develop multiple skills but also expand the boundaries of learning beyond classrooms – it’s a critical step and I believe we all should do our bit to help make these digital learning opportunities available to all children. Another crucial aspect that we all need to recognize is how important mental health really is. Lockdown has been stressful for all, and sadly, many children and young people do not ask for help because of the stigma around mental health concerns. We all need to talk often and discuss with each other about mental health as much as we do about our physical health, if not more. Another serious concern is that these difficult times have given a dramatic rise to poverty, globally. What we need to understand is that the disadvantaged sections are at a disproportionate risk, because they have the least access to essential care needs. It’s a difficult time for all of us, and if we have a roof above our head and food on our plate, we must consider ourselves privileged and must make some efforts to help those who are in need.”

The negative is that this crisis may continue for a while more, and as it does, the economic fallout will worsen. The positive is that these times have given us unprecedented opportunities to rebuild a system upon which our future will rely on. It’s a call for action – for every person in every sphere of our society, we must act now.