“The losses that children and young people will incur from not being in school may never be recouped,” by UNICEF Henrietta Fore and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, July 9th 2021.
My children are struggling, I am struggling. For my family remote schooling is not working and we are the privileged ones.
There are thousands of families without the resources needed, be it technological or emotional to support online learning and the unfortunate reality of this is so many of our nation’s youth are being left behind.
Schools need to reopen. They needed to be reopened like yesterday.
The past year and a half we watched our nation’s youth fall further into peril. There have been increased reports of child abuse. There was a significant decline in SEA performance and an alarming amount of student dropouts has been reported.
For many children our current educational system has failed them, and unless schools reopen with the necessary tools they need to catch up, we are facing an entire lost generation.
Like many parents, I am perplexed as to why more attention has not been given to the reopening of schools. We have experts discussing the need to reopen daily, but schools continue to be put on the back burner.
Discussions keep happening and there is zero progress. Don’t look to the Trinidad & Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA); they seem to have more “concerns” than solutions.
And while everyone bickers and nitpicks our children are suffering.
So how do we reopen schools in the pandemic, especially with the inevitableness of the Delta variant?
It’s tricky and will not be an easy task, but it needs to be done.
Scientists and researchers have both agreed that while children can contract Covid, the risk of transmission in school, once all safety protocols are followed, is minimal and the benefits outweigh the risks.
The reopening of schools requires a multi-sectoral approach, among the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Gender and Youth Affairs and the Ministry of Public Utilities.
Firstly a health and safety plan needs to be formulated. Schools need to be provided with the necessary sanitisation equipment and products. WASA needs to get in gear and ensure every school has a constant and reliable supply of water.
If space is an issue, the school needs to decide if a “shift system” is needed to prevent crowding and allow for the recommended social distancing.
Once they are open, schools need to take the appropriate steps to provide additional remedial resources to students who have fallen behind. If extra training for teachers is needed, then it needs to be done and I assure you Mr Tight Pocket Minister of Finance it will be money well spent.
TTUTA needs to cool its herbs for a five and support teachers receiving extra training, not fighting it down, like all unions do anytime an institution tries to implement an initiative to upgrade the skills of their members.
Additional counsellors are needed to tackle the increased emotional issues now faced by children as a result of the pandemic.
Lastly, we need to have some patience with the process and be open to tweaks.
Last week my daughter was invited into her school to collect her materials for the new term. The school staggered students, they had to be masked and follow all safety protocols. And I saw something I had not seen in an incredibly long time. I saw my daughter truly happy. I watched my daughter strolling through the school courtyard, laughing and smiling with her friend.
It made me so happy and broke my heart at the same time, because I knew this happiness would fade as soon as online classes started again and it did.
My children are overwhelmed, they are riddled with anxiety and I am slowly watching them retreat into themselves.
Our children need to get to back to school, not only for academic reasons but for their social and emotional development.
Like many parents I am waiting with bated breath, for that magical day that our PM announces schools to reopen. Unfortunately, I fear I may pass out from oxygen deprivation before our powers that be make that call.
At the end of the day, it is our children that are losing.
Remote School is Not Working
“The losses that children and young people will incur from not being in school may never be recouped,” by UNICEF Henrietta Fore and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, July 9th 2021.
My children are struggling, I am struggling. For my family remote schooling is not working and we are the privileged ones.
There are thousands of families without the resources needed, be it technological or emotional to support online learning and the unfortunate reality of this is so many of our nation’s youth are being left behind.
Schools need to reopen. They needed to be reopened like yesterday.
The past year and a half we watched our nation’s youth fall further into peril. There have been increased reports of child abuse. There was a significant decline in SEA performance and an alarming amount of student dropouts has been reported.
For many children our current educational system has failed them, and unless schools reopen with the necessary tools they need to catch up, we are facing an entire lost generation.
Like many parents, I am perplexed as to why more attention has not been given to the reopening of schools. We have experts discussing the need to reopen daily, but schools continue to be put on the back burner.
Discussions keep happening and there is zero progress. Don’t look to the Trinidad & Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA); they seem to have more “concerns” than solutions.
And while everyone bickers and nitpicks our children are suffering.
So how do we reopen schools in the pandemic, especially with the inevitableness of the Delta variant?
It’s tricky and will not be an easy task, but it needs to be done.
Scientists and researchers have both agreed that while children can contract Covid, the risk of transmission in school, once all safety protocols are followed, is minimal and the benefits outweigh the risks.
The reopening of schools requires a multi-sectoral approach, among the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Gender and Youth Affairs and the Ministry of Public Utilities.
Firstly a health and safety plan needs to be formulated. Schools need to be provided with the necessary sanitisation equipment and products. WASA needs to get in gear and ensure every school has a constant and reliable supply of water.
If space is an issue, the school needs to decide if a “shift system” is needed to prevent crowding and allow for the recommended social distancing.
Once they are open, schools need to take the appropriate steps to provide additional remedial resources to students who have fallen behind. If extra training for teachers is needed, then it needs to be done and I assure you Mr Tight Pocket Minister of Finance it will be money well spent.
TTUTA needs to cool its herbs for a five and support teachers receiving extra training, not fighting it down, like all unions do anytime an institution tries to implement an initiative to upgrade the skills of their members.
Additional counsellors are needed to tackle the increased emotional issues now faced by children as a result of the pandemic.
Lastly, we need to have some patience with the process and be open to tweaks.
Last week my daughter was invited into her school to collect her materials for the new term. The school staggered students, they had to be masked and follow all safety protocols. And I saw something I had not seen in an incredibly long time. I saw my daughter truly happy. I watched my daughter strolling through the school courtyard, laughing and smiling with her friend.
It made me so happy and broke my heart at the same time, because I knew this happiness would fade as soon as online classes started again and it did.
My children are overwhelmed, they are riddled with anxiety and I am slowly watching them retreat into themselves.
Our children need to get to back to school, not only for academic reasons but for their social and emotional development.
Like many parents I am waiting with bated breath, for that magical day that our PM announces schools to reopen. Unfortunately, I fear I may pass out from oxygen deprivation before our powers that be make that call.
At the end of the day, it is our children that are losing.