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FOBISIA COVID-19 IMPACT REPORT
At its 2 April 2020 Meeting, the FOBISIA Board requested a report on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Federation. On 23 April 2020, FOBISIA HQ distributed a survey to its 81 Affiliate Members and 76 Member Schools.
With a global health emergency announced by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020 due to the spread of coronavirus infections and deaths worldwide, FOBISIA Member Schools and HQ were plunged into the position of having to respond quickly to a developing crisis, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff, students and their school communities. Almost immediately, and on the dawn of Chinese New Year, which significantly mobilises people across Asia and beyond, Member School communities were faced with quarantine and travel restrictions, forced repatriations and evacuations, border and school closures, the commencement of online learning, and changes to student assessment. In just over three months, schools are now facing the lifting of restrictions at varying levels, the risk of second and third waves of infection, and the challenge of mobilising staff in readiness for the next academic year, with continued uncertainty around recruitment and student enrolments, all in the shadow of a global economic recession.
Member Schools and HQ have had to initiate crisis management and make tough decisions on a range of levels. Member School communities have rallied together to support one another during this unprecedented emergency. FOBISIA has supported and assisted Member Schools to connect across the region and share experiences, good practice, and coordinate on crisis management. FOBISIA HQ has also taken the opportunity to collaborate with its global counterparts including BSME, EARCOS, COBIS, LAHC, and upgraded its video-conferencing facilities, which has improved its capacity to communicate with the membership via the provision of webinars and virtual meetings.
AoBSO. From the onset of the pandemic, FOBISIA HQ moved quickly to provide regular updates to schools on the status of FOBISIA events and school closures. Although the majority of FOBISIA student enrichment and CPD events have been cancelled, Member Schools have managed to deliver full refunds for the majority of them. FOBISIA HQ negotiated with its games provider, Sports Camps Australia (SCA), to achieve 90% deposit refunds for its Member Schools for the Under 13s Games that were cancelled. HQ has from managing the expectations of colleagues and parents, assessment, boarding, access to information and dealing with uncertainty, managing the ability to switch off personally, and recruitment of teachers and students, among others. The majority of Member Schools anticipated a drop in enrollments but not school fees next year.
Member Schools have faced closures and cite the main parent concerns as school fees, followed by lost learning hours, exam cancellations, decisions other schools are making and lost ECA hours, among others. The overwhelming concern is around the wellbeing of staff, students and the school community is isolation, followed by financial security, missing significant family events, mourning loved ones and medical concerns, among others. Heads have faced a range of challenges
While a smaller majority of Member Schools did not anticipate changes to the school calendar, an overwhelming majority were were apprehensive about both international travel and being able to commit to FOBISIA CPD and Student Events next year. Member Schools found the support provided by FOBISIA HQ to be useful, particularly its CEO Circulars, events updates, webinars and shared online learning opportunities. The most commonly suggested area that FOBISIA HQ could have taken a bigger role in was sharing the planning and operational responses of its Member Schools during COVID-19 and providing a forum for Heads to discuss them.
The vast majority of Affiliate Members are located outside Asia and closed their offices due to COVID-19. The main challenges they have faced include cancellation or postponement of school programmes, loss of revenue and supply of stock, and travel restrictions. Just over half of them anticipated budget cuts as a result of COVID-19. Although less than half of FOBISIA's Affiliate Members are working with Member Schools, nearly two-thirds reach out to them during COVID-19. Just over half of our Affiliate Members offer online CPD, Student Events or other services that would be of interest to them during COVID-19. The most popular membership benefit among Affiliates is emails to Heads of School or specific faculties, followed by the FOBISIA Handbook & Directory, logo permissions, conference discounts, and sponsorship opportunities. There is a lot of scope to utilise social media and webinars to connect our Affiliate Members with Member Schools. While it was too early to tell how COVID-19 had changed the way they would do business going forward, an increased virtual and online presence was highlighted, alongside increased competition in the online space. Other suggestions included an increase in free offerings, increased caution on credit terms and a potential contraction of business opportunities. Despite this, more than two-thirds of our Affiliate Members said they would still be seeking to attend our annual leadership conference, once there is more clarity on quarantine and travel restrictions, and that travel was more likely in 2021.
Despite the global pandemic, the Federation has managed to welcome six new schools since March, bringing it to a total of 76 Member Schools, and 81 Affiliate Members have renewed their membership again this year. FOBISIA CEO, John Gwyn Jones MBE and the HQ team have worked hard in supporting the membership through these unprecedented times in order to help them move forward and make key decisions. FOBISIA would like to thank the 33 Member Schools and 30 Affiliate Members for participating in the survey that informed this report prepared by FOBISIA HQ. Please contact Siobhan Bland at FOBISIA HQ (siobhan.bland@fobisia.org) for a copy of the FOBISIA COVID-19 Impact Report.
