impact of covid 19 on. education sector . i want speech on this
Answers
Responding to the coronavirus pandemic is a matter of the greatest national importance, and the scale of the challenge in front of us is truly without precedent.
Every aspect of our national life has been affected by this crisis, and sustaining our education system has been at the forefront of my mind.
My priorities are to ensure the health and wellbeing of our children, young people and staff, and to maintain teaching and learning wherever this is possible, guided by the advice of the Chief Medical Officer and public health experts.
I would like to place on record my sincere appreciation for the extraordinary work that all of the teaching and non-teaching staff in our schools and Early Learning and Childcare settings have been doing to maintain educational continuity in these unprecedented days.
The approach of the Scottish Government to this crisis has been to deliver clear and open communications with members of the public. When circumstances change, we need to set out the basis of that change. And that is the point we reached yesterday in relation to our schools.
Firstly, scientific advice now highlights that closing schools will help to suppress the spread of Coronavirus. Secondly, as people follow the advice issued on Monday, it is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain education provision.
As a consequence of these two factors, the First Minister set out yesterday that schools and nursery closures for pupils are now inevitable.
I want to be clear at the outset that what we are advising is this: at the end of tomorrow, schools and nurseries should, ordinarily, close for children and young people.
Teaching, learning and support will continue – albeit in different ways for different groups of children.
For the majority, this will be through distance learning and online learning, with different forms of on-going contact with teachers rather than in-school, face-to-face. Teachers and other staff who are well, will continue to be working. Senior phase pupils with coursework for national qualifications to complete will be informed by their schools how to complete this.
For vulnerable children and those who have parents or carers employed as key workers, Local Authorities are developing approaches to support them at this time.
My statement today will provide more detail about what these mean in practice, and how our teaching and education workforce can re-focus their work to support pupils in a range of different ways in the weeks and months ahead.
We want our local authorities to be able to exercise the necessary flexibility in the use of school buildings and other settings, to enable the education workforce to operate in new and different ways to support learners. There are three ways in which this should be the case and we have discussed and agreed this approach with local government:
Firstly, we need to continue to support vulnerable children: we will not cut adrift vulnerable young people, who often rely on school life for hot meals or for a safe, nurturing and supportive environment.
Secondly, we want to deliver as much educational continuity as possible: we want local authorities and teachers to do all they can to ensure educational continuity for our children and young people, with a particular focus on S4-S6 pupils who need to complete coursework for national qualifications. Teachers can provide educational continuity for children in the broad general education in a variety of ways; for example through setting weekly learning tasks and emailing these to families where possible, or using Glow and other online learning platforms. I am confident that the teaching profession will respond in a variety of imaginative, creative and simulating ways to support continuity in learning for pupils.
And thirdly key workers: we are clear that we must support local authorities to put in place arrangements that ensure the children of key workers, who do not have another parent or carer at home who can look after them during the day, have continuing access to all-age learning and childcare that allows their parents or carers to participate in the national response to Covid-19. For example, our doctors and nurses must continue to be available to support the fight against this virus.
Explanation:
The petrifying and severe impact of COVID-19 has shaken the world to its core. Further, most of the Governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. In India too, the government as a part of the nationwide lockdown has closed all educational institutions, as a consequence of which, learners ranging from school going children to postgraduate students, are affected.
These nationwide closures are impacting over 91% of the worlds' student population. Several other countries have implemented localized closures impacting millions of additional learners. UNESCO is supporting countries in their efforts to mitigate the immediate impact of school closures, particularly for more vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, and to facilitate the continuity of education for all through remote learning. The UNESCO report estimates that the coronavirus pandemic will adversely impact over 290 million students across 22 countries. The UNESCO estimates that about 32 crores students are affected in India, including those in schools and colleges.