Can We Pandemic-Proof Our Education System
Recently, a project was pitched to one of my partners. This project saw an opportunity in the recent COVID-19 pandemic and asked one of the toughest questions that any education administrator can contend with. Can we pandemic-proof our education System?
With more and more schools shutting down and with most parents opting to leave the children at home, parents are feeling a bit concerned. Most children may find it challenging to catch up since they have fallen behind over a year's worth of classes. Furthermore, many of them are not able to self-study because there is an over-reliance on teachers. Hence, there need to be better solutions in this new norm.
Bringing the Classroom Online
The most obvious thing is to bring classes online. The benefit of it is that you will get to have your class whenever and wherever you are. That is a huge plus point since you are able to have classes even during lockdowns.
Of course, online classes are far from the perfect plan. Withouth proper training and planning, online classes just adds to the workload that the students currently have. Coupled with the poor internet connection, it can be tough to actually effectively execute online learning effectively.
So what can be done?
Hybrid Approach to Education
In order to make online learning work, it is important to train the teachers on how to effectively use an online platform. This includes teaching them how to leverage the use of online platforms to help the kids and not overburden them.
Furthermore, parents can help by mitigating the need for more. At times, more content and more learning do not mean better achievements. As such, it is important for parents to be in the know of how too much content can be detrimental to the child's learning. This can be done by giving a brief report of the students' performance to the parents. But alas....
The System is Designed for the Good Times
Prior to 2020, exams were the yardstick that most education systems used to measure a child's performance. After 2020, we are still largely stuck with the same system. Change takes time and looking at the progress, it may take a few years before we adapt our system to fit online learning. But till then, I believe the government should work on training the teachers and equipping them with the know-how to get there.
I believe that the educational system at a global level must evolve to reinforce virtual education, since in the future there will most likely be events that force virtual education to be a single option so that many can study and prepare.
Greetings and thanks for this valuable contribution.
I think is important to be in a classroom and learn everything remotely can be difficult.
Hi @alvinauh
The education sector is another area that has been hit hard by the pandemic. And the reality is that almost no country was prepared for it.
Will they be prepared for another similar situation? I have no idea, I would hope so. But, the truth is that for governments that means a lot of spending and little left for them to steal. At least that's the situation in Latin America
But it is a good point for debate.
It would be a great idea to have the method of online teaching implemented but not every parent will be able to afford the cost involved to get suitable materials needed for the project especially in country's like mine where poverty is on a high side.
I especially agree with your statement, that the system was "designed for good times". Even with the best intentions, no one could have predicted the broad impact of a pandemic. I would say this has turned into a great opportunity to change the education system and make it more resilient against similar events in the future, especially now that it is a necessity.
Hi @alvinauh
This pandemic has generated many challenges in all aspects of our lives in the social, economic, educational, and especially in the family, for us, as parents, this situation of confinement is very difficult to overcome, and even more so to be able to give the classes at home, I know that it is very difficult for other parents who somehow cannot handle the technological advance, I can say it with knowledge of the facts because my wife and I are teachers and somehow it is easy for us to help our daughters at home, and we also help some parents in this regard so that they do not feel bad about not being able to teach their children.
In Venezuela, the confinement in our homes continues to spread due to many factors related to the pandemic and also to the type of government that we are suffering in this pan.
We are finding just the opposite. Our children are doing less work, spending less time and advancing more quickly. We have been homeschooling for a while but are receiving lots of calls from teachers and parents now that everyone is attempting to be more flexible with their approaches to education.
I don't know a single child who isn't ahead in knowledge during this period. Sure, most didn't do even 1/2 the homework or spend 50% of the time in class. That should really tell us something.