While Covid-19 causes fatalities among the very old and people with compromised immune or respiratory systems, it still has a death toll of under 3%. Something much more dangerous could be right around the corner. Are we ready for it?
Our society generally, and schools specifically, work with this invisible and unspoken framework of “if it isn’t broken why fix it?” mentality. As the principal of a school I am going to focus on how we must view Covid-19 not just as a threat but as an opportunity to improve our methodologies and systems.
How many times have you heard it said; “Our students are happy in school, get good O level grades and gain admission in colleges and universities of their choice…the system works. Why would you want to risk ruining it? Why bring in change and make us learn new methodologies? And frankly why put in all that extra work when we have something great happening?
Well, I think Covid-19 has answered that question for us. We need to be prepared, and we need to prepare our students for the brave new world where both challenges and opportunities await us.
It takes a kick in the pants, a shock, something uncomfortable, to move us out of our comfort zones.
E-learning opportunities, in the form of blended learning, have been a part of the educational landscape for a long time. We, as school systems, just didn’t go there.
Now that we have had to, teachers are experimenting with something as simple as assigning work and sharing pre-existing, free, well-made videos to teach young learners. Or are learning to live stream lessons on the host of platforms available. These approaches have, hopefully, forever changed how we teach. Some will hope it will all go away except that you cannot put the Genie back in the bottle.
Covid-19 should not just be a wakeup call for schools but for society as a whole. Governments need to work together with each other and world organisations need to be better prepared for any eventuality
As teachers explore ideas like the flipped classroom, where students come to class with the lesson or lecture already delivered, can now become reality. Learning can be made more alive, colourful, interesting, relevant and individualised. Children can watch videos on their phones, tablets or laptops and then replay them if they don’t get it the first time, allowing learning at their own pace.
We have been forced into a new phase of educational developments, one whose benefits are slowly revealing themselves to us.
Covid-19 should not just be a wakeup call for schools but for society as a whole. Governments need to work together with each other and world organisations need to be better prepared for any eventuality. Better hygiene, early detection, better healthcare for those who can’t afford it and improved policies/ procedures need to be developed. Quarantines, secrecy, divisions, hundred-mile long walls, are not the answer.
A person caught this disease from an animal in China, and people died in Italy and America. Stock markets crashed. This is not your problem or my problem, it’s OUR PROBLEM and no wall or quarantine is going to stop this.
The writer is Chairman, Pakistan Education Council Sindh ( PEC)