Home schooling is a family affair under lockdown

By Ntombi Ntunzi & Roxanne Francis

In the words of the great South Africa statesman, Nelson Mandela: “Young people must take it upon themselves to ensure that they receive the highest education possible so that they can represent us well in future as future leaders.” As the world battles to rid itself of the novel Coronavirus, young people are encouraged to remember Mandela’s words and find creative ways to keep learning outside the classroom while under a nationwide lockdown.

This mammoth task is not only one for pupils but parents too, who are urged now more than ever to be hands-on with home schooling. This by no means replaces the hard work and contribution made by over four hundred thousand educators countrywide. We salute you, our teachers! Many parents can attest to the reality that multitasking has become near impossible due to the uncertainty of Covid-19, the stress of working from home, economic turbulence, and now home schooling. Keineloe Phakathi, the mother of a Grade R pupil, shares her experience thus far: “It has been tough trying to home school my son. Home is his comfort zone and he takes advantage of this. On some days I get a low-spirited ‘Ahh, Mommy’, and on others I have an eager beaver who wants to learn everything at once. Every day brings a new challenge for both of us,” she says. Our government has come up with an extensive reinforcement plan to help parents and pupils figure out how to make home schooling a success. For starters, the Education Department has made available online resources such as study material, multimedia and reading material on the education.gov website. Corporates have also come on board to play their part. Vodacom’s e-learning school can be accessed free for educational content for all grades, while MTN has provided zero-rated online resources on siyavula.com and Microsoft offers students free access to Office365 by visiting mahala.ms. Grade 5 pupil Nkanyiso finds the online platform very helpful as an edutainment tool. “I get to see the things I learn about and I can also save notes. It beats carrying a heavy bag of books every day”. Other edutainment tools include DStv’s mindset program on channel 319 and OpenView HD’s education show on channel 122.

Although Covid-19 caught South Africa and the world off guard, the swift and defined reaction by our government and citizens has been an assurance that South Africa is in good hands and the country will overcome this challenge. Earlier this month, a new (and partially free) e-learning platform called Snapplify was launched. It offers a 24-hour digital library, allows educators to upload and share teacher-created multimedia resources using the Resources and Groups functions, supplies past exam papers and allows for the purchase of textbooks. There’s also Africa Teen Geeks, featured on careerwise.co.za. Although this computer science NPO has been around 2014, the platform has since been amplified to assist parents, learners and educators during lockdown. Its sister programme MsZora specialising in AI (artificial intelligence) has been offering lockdown classes, primarily for learners in matric and later across all other grades. Check it out here https://www.africateengeeks.co.za/ As declared by President Ramaphosa in his lockdown announcement address: “In the days, weeks and months ahead, our resolve, our resourcefulness and our unity as a nation will be tested as never before. I call on all of us, one and all, to play our part. To be courageous, to be patient, and above all, to show compassion. Let us never despair. For we are a nation at one, and we will surely prevail.” “One thing I am very proud of is the unity South Africans have shown during the lockdown, especially among parents. Information sharing platforms via WhatsApp groups and social media venting by other parents who are going through a lot, is a support group I can definitely sign up to,” says Phakathi. Here are some useful links for easy learning: • http://www.worksheetcloud.com/live • https://stories.audible.com/start-listen • https://www.khanacademy.org/ • https://www.siyavula.com/ • https://socrative.com/ • https://kahoot.com/ • https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/ • https://www.codespace.co.za/about • https://sisanda.com/pages/sisanda Speaking to educators, parents and learners, it is clear that home schooling under lockdown has been a tough but valuable lesson so far, not only for the class of 2020, but for all of us.