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Shepherd Chimururi

Schools must implement a two way teaching system as a matter of urgency in order to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, as schools open this month.

Continued reliance on classroom teaching alone is proving to be in vain as both the learners and teachers are stuck at home.

Online teaching is the way to go.

Schools have to strategize on how to incorporate online teaching in their main lesson delivery system. Online lessons must be incorporated together with physical lessons to complete the circle of education and make sure education does not stop.

It is heart rending to see most schools are still in pre Covid-19 era almost a year after the first lockdown. Hoping for the disappearance the corona virus is wishful thinking.

Online learning is the future of education. Schools must embrace this transformation and strategically plan for it to prevent panic inspired disorganised implementation.

Schools must regard the impending reopening of schools especially the first three weeks as a window period to realign school syllabus, reorient students, setup systems and infrastructure like recording studios, upskill teachers with online teaching material production and presentation skills and convince parents to financially and technically support the initiative.

School authorities should not just teach or think of online learning in times of the pandemic. They must prepare for it now.

Remember you prepare for war in times of peace.

Resetting school timetables in preparation of recurring waves of the pandemic is the way to go.

The recurring different types of variants of Covid-19 are casting uncertainty about the opening and closing of schools.

For example, schools can dedicate at least one day per week as an online teaching day so that students, teachers and parents get used to the new normal.

Actually challenges facing online learning need to be solved from multiple angles. A roundtable that can bring together all stakeholders in the education sector is urgently needed.

Policy makers, teachers, students, parents, network providers, power suppliers, digital gadget suppliers, donors, teacher training colleges, media practitioners, opinion influencers digital content developers, etc.

Introducing online education levy to support underprivileged student and under resourced schools is not a wild idea.

While we wait for the national juggernaut to move schools must quickly build online lessons ecosystem and adapt to the new normal of digital education.

In some instances, it is not lack of resources or money but change of policy. Schools must take an extra effort to educate parents that digital gadgets like laptops and mobile phones are no longer a luxury but a necessity just as good as text books and other learning equipment learners bring to school.

Some of the progressive actions schools must immediately implement include setting up powerful IT department, opening of digital accounts like emails and zoom accounts for all their students.

Schools’ list of student requirements must reflect the inclination towards online learning by including digital devices like headphones, android mobile phones, basic knowledge of how to operate digital gadgets, etc.

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