VIRUS SHUTS SCHOOLS
Schools have had their Easter break brought forward and will close for at least four weeks, as the Government gets ready to ratchet up its Covid-19 response to the highest-possible level.
But as children prepare to learn at home, New Zealand Educational Institution (NZEI) Te Riu Roa president Liam Rutherford insists parents aren’t expected to become school teachers overnight.
The unprecedented announcement from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday has signalled the most austere restrictions imposed on New Zealanders in living memory.
The country’s response to escalated immediately to alert level 3, ahead of alert level 4 restrictions imposed from tomorrow, effectively confining most people to their homes.
The decision forced the immediate closure of schools and universities across the country for at least four weeks.
The only exception was for parents who worked in essential services like emergency workers who were still able to take their children to school until tomorrow.
Students will need to move to remote learning, either through online or digital teaching, or nondigital project-based tasks set by teachers.
Schools have been preparing for sustained closure for several weeks now but with the move now confirmed, Rutherford was allaying parents’ concerns that they may not be able to replicate the school environment at home.
‘‘Firstly, parents shouldn’t beat themselves up about it. Nobody is expecting them to be teachers . . . instead, they should see it has an opportunity to make the most of the time.
While many schools were able to switch to digital-based learning, others had chosen for a more ‘‘pen and paper-based approach’’, Rutherford said.
Yesterday’s announcement has followed pleas from the Teachers’ Council to close schools to ensure the safety of both students and school staff.
In an open letter to Ardern published early yesterday, council chief executive Lesley Hoskin called for the immediate closure of all schools and daycare facilities.
‘‘As the voice of teachers, the council, on behalf of all teachers, implores you to act now and to move to alert level 4, closing early childhood centres and schools,’’ Hoskin wrote.
It was a sentiment echoed by Post-Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) president Jack Boyle, who had also written to Ardern urging her to immediately direct schools to switch to home teaching and learning.
New Zealand Principals’ Federation president Perry Rush was confident schools were prepared to teach remotely after two weeks preparing pandemic plans.
However, it was important not to expect that learning from home would look the same as a standard school day.
‘‘I think we have to be careful not to expect the world of our teachers. They are humans themselves, with their own lives and children and loved ones to look after.’’
Accessing materials could also prove a barrier to learning for some children, with as many as 100,000 young Kiwis without internet access at home.
Rush said this was a concern, and if the school closures extended beyond the Easter holidays it would become more pressing to ensure children had access to technology.
However, he also said learning from home did not necessarily mean learning online, and said teachers would be making use of physical resources and phone calls.
Schools will be open today and tomorrow for the children of essential workers.
Rush said they were awaiting clarification from the Ministry of Education about who qualified as an essential worker, and what arrangements would be made for these children when schools closed completely.
Helena Pattison, an English teacher at Auckland’s Marcellin College, said while teachers wouldn’t be able to do their ‘‘best work’’ in the coming weeks, their job would become about giving students a sense of normalcy.
She said her colleagues had spent the morning learning how to use Google Classrooms, and across the country teachers had been sharing resources and tips on forums.
‘‘Even though we might not be prepared, I feel confident we’re going to get through it because everyone’s working together really positively,’’ she said.