Education During A Pandemic: How Countries Address The Challenges?

Source: Bianca Bagnarelli

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many states, provinces and even countries to lockdown (or partially lockdown). This has caused many educational institutions to be closed, since the beginning of this year. According to UNESCO, over 80% of the world’s student population in 138 countries, are affected. Some people may see this as an opportunity for countries or institutions to further utilize today’s technology and improve their e-learning system. But in fact, closures are placing unprecedented challenges on governments, teachers, students and parents to ensure learning continuity.

The first issue is the inequality in education. The digital divide is an issue in Malaysia’s education system - the divide between the urban and rural, as well as by socio-economic status. Students from under-privileged backgrounds tend to have less access to online materials. Not every student has a personal computer in their homes. Many are still relying on the schools’ computer labs. There are also families with kids having only one PC in their home. The kids then need to share with other siblings and make sure their timetables will not clash with each other.

Some schools also do not have a mature e-Learning platform. Some are still on the setting up stage while others just do not have any! Lecturers or teachers may not be well prepared for digital platforms. Some may need time to be familiar with the systems. Since people are not allowed to travel, research including surveys, interviews or experiments, have slowed down as well.

How are countries addressing these challenges?

In almost all countries, teachers and school administrators are encouraged to use applications to support communication with learners and parents as well as deliver live lessons or record massive open online courses (MOOC). Learning content is also delivered through TV and other media. For example, in Greece, the Government has designed new TV programmes providing Greek language lessons, natural sciences, mathematics, history, and others for their primary school children.

China is providing computers to students from low-income families and offering mobile data packages and telecommunication subsidies for students. In France, efforts are being made to lend devices and provide printed assignments to the 5% of learners who do not have access to the internet or computers. In Washington State, United States, schools are not encouraged to provide online learning services unless equitable access is ensured. In Portugal, the government has a partnership with the post office services to deliver working sheets to be done at home.

Several countries have rescheduled examinations and assessments for all levels of schooling, including universities. Some also provide online examinations. When exam dates cannot be changed, special arrangements (e.g., limited number of students who can take the exam at one time) have been introduced to ensure the safety of the exam-takers (e.g., in Japan and Thailand).

Education must continue and more needs to be done by every party as nobody knows how long this pandemic will last. On 25 March 2020, YTL Foundation, in collaboration with YTL Communications and FrogAsia, launched its Learn from Home Initiative to enable online learning from home. Under this Initiative, parents can register for free Yes 4G SIM cards with 40GB of data and have access to learning resources.

 PT3, SPM and STPM exams have been postponed following the extension of the MCO. Other public (e.g. UPSR) and private (e.g. university finals) exams are to be rescheduled as well.

MoE and schools (including higher learning institutions) should work together and come out with a complete plan for this entire academic year. Even after MCO has ended, online classes (or better learning methods) are still preferable with social distancing becoming necessary. The Government should support schools in developing their online platforms and provide appropriate training to teachers. Meanwhile, extending the academic year or shortening school year-end holidays could be a solution.

Covid-19 may upset our 2020 routine but on the bright side, this is a good opportunity to reshape our education system and perhaps speed up the technological change!

Reference:

1.     COVID-19 Educational Disruption and Response, UNESCO

2.     Florin Zubașcu, Universities in lockdown: the good, the bad and the ugly of online teaching, https://sciencebusiness.net/

3.     How are countries addressing the Covid-19 challenges in education? A snapshot of policy measures, 24 Mar 2020, GEM Report

4.     MoE urged to extend academic year, 2 Apr 2020, The Malaysian Reserve