Schools at home a nightmare for parents

They complain their children not as attentive at home as they are in school

ISLAMABAD: With schools closed for over a month and students having to study at home, the situation has proven to be a nightmare for parents to manage and many students are lagging in studies owing to technical or other issues.

In the wake of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, the government had decided to close schools and other educational institutions in the country, with such institutions directed to implement a regime where students will continue to ‘attend’ classes and receive education from home.

The educational institutions then scrambled to prepare online lessons and figure out a way to beam themselves into the homes of students.

In the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, most private educational institutions adopted varying distance learning methods. Most private educational institutions informed parents that despite the closure of campuses, classes will continue daily and students will receive homework and worksheets digitally either through the messaging application Whatsapp or through e-mail. Those who could have simply announced an early summer break.

The first obstacle they ran into was the fact that not all students have internet facilities available at home or have a computer or other such device which would not only allow them to participate in classes but also to complete the work assigned by teachers. Apart from this, many parents are not tech-savvy to help their children complete their homework.

Many had not purchased the course books for the new classes when the lockdown was suddenly imposed.

Other students did not have the facility of a printer at home so that they could print out the worksheets assigned by their teachers to fill.

Parents worried that their child could lag because they do not have the requisite equipment and have regularly missed assignments. They feared that this could cause their child to lose interest.

Sadaf Zulfiqar, the mother of a student shared the difficulties she has been facing in helping her children complete their homework.

“Teaching is an art that which was well-performed by the teachers,” she said, adding, “we can help children in their homework but doing the whole thing [classes] daily is impossible.”

She further said that the children do not remain as attentive at home as they do in classrooms since both have entirely different atmospheres.

The parents complained of being deprived of the new course books which they had yet to purchase when the lockdown was announced.

Further, parents were of the view that sending homework digitally was just a tactic by the private institutions to still claim monthly fees from students.

Aasia Bibi, who is a working mother, said that it was nearly impossible to give children education at home as it is given in schools.

“The children are inattentive towards this (online) method and do not take it seriously.” she asserted.

Virtual classes

Meanwhile, the federal education ministry has decided to start a dedicated channel for school and college students with assistance from the Pakistan Television Network (PTV) to alleviate the damage that has been caused due to surprise, extended holidays amid the COVID-19 situation.

Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood recently held an important meeting to review the situation after the closure of educational institutions across the country.

The participants of the meeting deliberated over the possible methods through which students can be kept engaged in educational activities.

It was decided that a dedicated educational television channel will be launched for students with the assistance of PTV.  A draft of the curriculum, prepared with the help of the experts in the field of education, will be broadcasted on the channel.

The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) will establish an Emergency Learning Centre (ELC) where subject specialists will review the draft curriculum and make the necessary changes before it is finalised.

Education Director Saadia Adnan told The Express Tribune that they were consulting multiple institutions to prepare the curriculum which will be broadcasted on the channel.

“We plan to borrow 11 hours of airtime from PTV,” she said, adding that they were preparing a curriculum covering pre-school, all the way to the intermediate level. A channel will be dedicated to students up to the intermediate level to maintain their educational momentum as schools remain closed because of the pandemic.

She confirmed that the proposed curriculum will adhere to the unified curriculum scheme.

The channel is expected to start by the mid of April.

Responding to a question, Adnan said that they were working on the possibility of issuing results of the federal government institutions on social media websites.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2020.