communities Covid-19 has brought us a whold new world

COVID-19 HAS BROUGHT US A WHOLE NEW WORLD

Now what are we going to do with it?

It has certainly been quite a year for all the learners attending school in South Africa this year, and even worldwide. They have all had to adapt and overcome the many challenges Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown have brought.

Teachers have also had to learn new technology skills very quickly. Before the pandemic, many teachers in the country had not received substantive formal technology training. The decision to shut down schools forced teachers to adapt and innovate to ensure that learning continued, despite the challenges. It amplified the key role that teachers already play in South Africa’s schools. They have emerged as key players in digital skills development and sustainability. To assist them, the Basic Education Department created a comprehensive Covid-19 guideline for teachers that addressed health aspects, as well as the teaching resources they could use when teaching from home. This is how South African teachers responded to teaching during lockdown: • Even with little to no previous experience, they adapted to online learning platforms while learning how to use learning management systems during the pandemic. • They taught their learners using platforms such as Zoom,

WhatsApp and Google messaging services that allow video calls. • Schools created WhatsApp learning groups to take pictures of book pages and send them to parents. Learners received teaching material through their smartphone apps, enabling classes to continue.

A complementary WhatsApp portal was also launched by the Department of Basic Education that provided teachers with information about Covid-19 and educational material. Radio and television were other mediums used by teachers to supplement learning as most learners had access to them. Access to radio and television by learners was higher compared with any other technological medium of learning.

Covid-19 protocols

Aside from learners and teachers having to learn new technology skills, they also had to practice the Covid-19 safety protocols, which included: encouraging learners and staff to take everyday preventative actions to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses; staying at home when sick; washing hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand sanitisers with at least 60% alcohol; cleaning frequently touched surfaces and practising social distancing. If learners became ill, they would be strictly isolated at home. In situations where a learner or teacher fell ill at school, they would be separated from healthy ones until they could be sent home.

NGO support for learners

More than one million learners will be writing matric this year, perhaps one of the most critical exams of their lives, as they start preparing for tertiary education and building a life and career for themselves. Recognising the importance of keeping learners in school until they matriculate, economics researcher Nic Spaull realised it was a critical time to devise a long-term and comprehensive national catch-up strategy, rather than a quick fix. Learners would need to be provided with individualised support and assessment. NGOs can play an important role here. The Zero Dropout campaign is an excellent example. Learners in primary schools in Paarl each have a nurturing adult in their lives and a personalised catch-up curriculum.

More than one million learners will be writing matric this year, perhaps one of the most critical exams of their lives, as they start preparing for tertiary education and building a life and career for themselves.

The programme also identifies any learning barriers learners were experiencing and where necessary, referred to a special or skills school. Feedback on the programmes confirms that the longer a learner was in the Zero Dropout programme, the greater the gain in the overall wellbeing of the Grade 12, including educational outcomes.

What have we learnt from Covid-19?

Covid-19 has been a very hard taskmaster for all of us, socially and economically. Yet it has brought with it a new way of looking at the world, and the role we can play in it. • China’s action to ban the consumption, farming and sale of wild animals looks as though it could become permanent, and if this could be scaled up globally, bringing huge benefits for wildlife. Conservationists are no longer alone on this. • Increased breeding of species sensitive to human activity, less hunting and greatly reduced pressure on fisheries. Time (and research) will tell whether such benefits outweigh the impacts of reduced protection for wildlife in some places. • The pandemic has caused policymakers and decision-makers to rethink our relationship with nature and the environment. Those who had forgotten that we are part of nature, and don’t control it, have had a shocking wake-up call.

It turns out that we don’t own nature after all – and we aren’t at the top of the pyramid. We need to work with nature rather than against it. • A reduction in air pollution, sound pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

These effects are temporary, but it is just possible that people who have had a glimpse of a better quality of life, might become converts to the cause, helping to create new impetus for the Paris Agreement. • The biggest positive emerging from this crisis is the realisation that we humans are not only connected but are capable of global, collective action.

If the stakes are high enough, we can take on these challenges together and, most importantly of all, rapidly abandon business as usual. Covid-19 has left us with a different world, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.