Education Amid The Pandemic: Does Risks Outweigh The Benefits?

With almost a year in quarantine, worldwide educational systems continue to battle learning barriers with online schooling and a steadfast approach to technological synergy. Yet the question lingers whether this new wave of home-schooling is useful for educating our emerging leaders and heroes? 

To elucidate this, we must first scale our negatives and positives. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of home-schooling

Learning through a gigantic educational crisis has several parents and teachers questioning the authenticity and value of through screen learning. In late February, the global pandemic grew out of control leading to the shutting down of all schooling institutions worldwide. This abrupt pause between an in routine learning schedules completely disordered the lives of countless students, their parents, and teachers. Fortunately, numerous countries jumped right back on track and introduced at-home learning, and before we knew it, most children were online and learning. The intensity of a pandemic was readily contrasted with the synergy of educational activities that kept students invested in something positive. Platforms like the Learning Cloud Australia have been the backbone of the new educational wave. 

Where home-schooling seemed like an entertaining luxury to most children; it has been ridiculed with problems for many others. Predominantly, connection and technical difficulties or seized availability of digital devices. Several wealthy countries have reached out to families in need of digital education facilities, poorer countries, however, have witnessed an increased learning gap. Moreover, many students do not have the most straightforward adequate learning requirements such as desks, books, healthy meals and supportive schooling households. Realistically, it has not been possible to support every family and every learning child, which stresses an increase in dropout rates and a decrease in educational quality. 

What’s the solution?

Due to such widespread concerns, schools and related educational institutions are either opening soon or have opened around the globe. It is difficult to quote the results of traditional schooling in correlation with a global pandemic without the event taking place. However, is it wise as benefactors to put our children outside where the danger still lingers?

Other than the apparent external learning hindrances, a significant drawback at home learning has been the internal factor of maintaining a well-engaged class—mostly young secondary school learners. As mentioned before, dropout percentages are a lingering issue in many countries, and an extended period of disengagement may result in a further increase. Furthermore, schooling is a child’s first interaction with the big world. Children learn their first actual outside interactions, compromises, friendships and enemies within such grounds. The lack of in-person communication may result in a lack of socio-emotional and social conduct skills. However, educational experts have expertly molded online courses into online platforms of sharing ideas, creating projects and strong social bonds. We believe that traditional or not, it is learning that matters to the growth and future of our children. Where most of these online solutions seem targeted towards well-supported children and might negatively exclude poor children; it is vital to see that devoid of everything online schooling has kept our children safe within our arms away from the stresses of a worldwide pandemic.