Just a few months ago, the whole world was enveloped in fear and panic because of the novel, fast spreading and deadly COVID-19 virus. As an educator in South Africa, I dreaded the opening of schools on the 8th of June 2020, I was anxious about everything and wasn’t quite sure about how the term will go considering we had been away for three good months. I feared for my health and that of the learners. I was not alone in this fear, other educators, parents and activists vocally expressed their concerns and criticized the Government’s decision, doing very little to convince the Minister and overturn the ruling of the Parliament.
The first one and half month of opening of schools turned out to be far from what I imagined, we thank the Almighty God for my school never recorded any COVID-19 positive cases, though this was not the same for other schools.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on educational systems globally must be discussed. We need to shed light on how the hard lockdown, extended school closures, unequal distribution of digital learning resources, food insecurity, special needs education and economic issues among others affect learners and the academic systems globally.
What has the COVID-19 pandemic taught us and what can we do better from henceforth? How can we ensure continued education even during pandemics? What current systems or policies need to be changed to ensure that learners from poor communities are not left out?
COVID-19 Impact on Students with Special Needs
In a world which does not prioritize students with special needs, COVID-19 created even further challenges. On March 13 of 2020, my school made the decision to move to online learning. Students were given Chromebooks and took home math workbooks, but the resources they were given did not make up for the fact that they lost the human connection and structure that school brings. For many students with disabilities and learning challenges, this loss was devastating. As teachers, we tried to provide a quality education online. I spent hours in content meetings discussing what we needed to prioritize. I spent all day creating slide presentations, videos, and practice quizzes. I called parents daily and sent mass texts to every parent of students in my class. I spent all night worrying about my students' health, safety, and education. However, I could not physically spend time with students and make sure that they even logged in to the classroom, let alone engaged in the content.
Many students with special needs make significant efforts because of the connection they have to their teachers, because of the learning environment created in schools, and because of the structure that school presents. Without these supports, my students struggled immensely. I sat on a video call with an eleven-year-old English Language learner and coaxed her five-year-old brother to sit quietly so that his sister/babysitter could work on her reading skills. I watched from a screen as a student with autism refused to write more than a single word on his essay. During in-person learning, he was engaged and passionate. Online, he wrote "I hate school" on his check-in every single day. One teacher at my school even watched from a video call as a student with special needs witnessed a shooting in her neighborhood and ran to get her baby sister, saying, "It's okay, you can keep teaching." Other students simply refused to log in or took quizzes without looking at the learning tools.
There was nothing I or any other teacher could do, parents felt more lost than even the teachers. For many, it was a lost year. For students who were already struggling or behind, it may have set them back indefinitely. Now, we are heading into year two of online learning. Although teachers and administrators have spent the summer brainstorming how to engage students, there is simply no substitute for the time, energy, and love that goes into teaching students in person. Without that teacher support and student engagement, it will be difficult if not impossible to make up for lost time. This virus has set many backs a year already. For my special education students, who were already struggling through work several grade levels behind their peers, this may feel like the end of their education. We need to find ways to help these students shine, but for many, online learning just dims their light (Emily from United States of America).
Unequal access by learners and teachers to technological resources
As an educator in Zimbabwe, we had to close schools two weeks before the actual calendar date as the pandemic was spreading like wildfire in other countries. The government reached a decision on imposing a nation-wide lockdown for three weeks to curb the spread of the deadly virus. As an educator. I was not worried about my learners missing a few lessons since it was towards school holidays anyway. Three weeks went by and COVID-19 cases surged across the country. The lockdown was further extended for another two weeks.
At this point, the five weeks lockdown is now extending into the second school term. Private schools then started conducting lessons online so that the learners will not lag behind with exam classes prioritized. As an educator in the rural areas, this is when it began sink in. Over 90% my learners do not have any form of technological gadget, let alone internet access. I felt helpless as an educator who has the best interests of her learners at heart. Even physical visits were not possible because people feared being infected with COVID-19. As the number of cases and deaths further surged, the government prioritized safety of the learners and educators over the curriculum, and thus schools remained closed. But keep in mind that even though schools are physically closed, private schools are virtually open, and learners are receiving learning material and support.
We are in September now; the government has selected facilitators to conduct lessons on the national television and radio and for different grades at specified times. In as much as most learners in the urban areas are benefiting from this initiative, my learners are not because they do not have televisions and radios in their homes. It hurts me as a teacher, education is the one thing they hope will alleviate their poverty but it too is inaccessible to them. Missing formal school for over four months has a negative effect on the brain development of young learners. It will take efforts of the teachers and the government to help these underprivileged rural areas excel in their academics, when they open schools (Zintombi from Zimbabwe).
Impact of COVID-19 on education
COVID-19 has had a tremendous negative impact on learners and teachers in my country. Although the government brought television programs to help learners in rural and urban communities, access to electricity is limited to a few and thus the great majority did not benefit. Again, learners had very little to study on television as allocated time was 30 minutes for each grade. Internet access during this pandemic was very horrible and so most people could not follow their lessons as planned. Finally, when the government announced that exam classes should reopen school which they did, a number of students contracted the disease. Although the government is trying all that it can to stop the spread of the pandemic, its effects are much higher than we anticipated on education in general (Amoatemaa from Ghana).
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