Schooling in the Time of Covid - Intro

Copyright: Elizabeth Prisco

I spend time with two young boys in Melbourne, Australia, and both had their schooling curtailed unexpectedly two weeks ago. The younger attends a school where an administrator tested positive for Coronavirus so all students were sent home on a Friday. The school told parents it planned to reopen for students the following Wednesday but, as it would be the last day of term two days later, I was skeptical of that promise.

Despite the Australian government's determination to keep schools open, Victoria's premier decided to close early for the holidays and students stayed home from the Tuesday  before the scheduled closure. We are now in the first week of the official school holidays but self isolation and social distancing is in effect, with people only supposed to leave their homes for four reasons - shopping for essential supplies, travelling to work or study if it can't be done at home (these are Australia-wide restrictions, not only applicable to Victoria), exercise, and medical or caring reasons. Gatherings of more than two people are also verboten, but with exceptions for members of the same household (obvious) or gatherings essential for work or education.

So no, Australia is not yet in lockdown, nor is Victoria, but I doubt very much that schools will reopen here when the holidays officially end. Despite the lessons that could have been learned from countries that went through this earlier, most schools and teachers were unprepared and I'm sure many educators are currently spending a lot of time planning how best to teach online. The boys I care for are missing their schools, not only because they miss their friends and social life, but because they miss their teachers and lessons. Their teachers have sent messages and some assignments online, and I've been very impressed by the emphasis placed on calmness and caring.

I initially intended to write an article on how teachers and parents have coped / are coping across the world as each country faces the same issues, merging responses from multiple experiences. However, the answers I've had thus far as fascinating enough that I feel each is worthy of its own post.

And hey, what else have you got to do right now but read and eat?

First up (coming soon): Teaching in Daegu - the epicentre of the Covid outbreak in South Korea.