Education in times of COVID-19 pandemic
Susana D. Rueda
Since the closure of schools, parents find themselves primarily responsible for the teaching of their children. They are forced to take over the task of homeschooling to maintain continuity of education. This becomes an added burden, while they are already tackling issues such as work-from-home, temporary unemployment leading to financial crisis, management of household chores. Many parents would not have adequate time or the necessary educational qualifications to assist their children with assignments that were previously taken care of by their teachers. This is likely to lead to frustration and burnout amongst caregivers and disruption in the academic activities of the children, leading to stress in both parents and children. Gender disparity regarding allocation of household duties in such periods of confinement also needs to be focused upon, as women are often expected to devote more time to home-schooling children and doing household chores affecting their academic career. Both teachers and students are unprepared in terms of technology handling or accessibility issues for online learning where most of the academic activities happen via Zoom or google meet without any dedicated online learning platform.
While the majority of schools have transitioned to online delivery of classes and evaluation to avoid the disruption of educational services, the digital platform still remains uncharted territory for majority of people in a low-middle income
In the absence of adequate social welfare and policy measures at governmental and institutional levels, this could lead to a severe mental health crisis amongst the young, further weakening their academic prospects leading to a vicious cycle of mental disorders, academic underachievement and poor socio-occupational functioning. On the other hand, for those who have access to digital learning media, problematic use of technology, increased gaming, spending more time on social media are also issues of concern that may emerge requiring intervention.
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The author is Teacher II at Concepcion Integrated School, San Simon District