Keeping Education on Track in the Disruptive School Year After a school shutdown of more than two months, teachers, parents and students are all gearing up to save the 2020 academic year.
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owever, as Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and the Department of Basic Education kick start their phased approach, there are still many questions about how parents and teachers can help limit the effects of this disruptive year on our children. Keep the momentum going as far as possible Recent data shows that the quality of learning has steadily been improving over the past 20 years and we must try our best not to lose this momentum. While the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has advised on how to transition to technology-based distance learning, collaborations with the SABC, radio channels, E-Portals and NGOs have proved vital in helping students to stay on track. Paper Video is a one such platform that is helping high school students improve their Maths, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Accounting from home. This has been achieved by creating exam revision resources with video lessons embedded directly into the resources themselves. Students have access to thousands of past exam questions and step-by-step video guides that take learners through each question. Children forget One recent study conducted in Malawi by Dr Shrochis Karki and David Jeffery, both Senior Education Consultants at Oxford Policy Management, found a significant decline in students’ reading ability when they returned from their school holidays. Parents, guardians and teachers need to be prepared for the fact that students will forget a lot of what they’ve learned and need to get creative when it comes to revision work.
Connecting to education While Minister Motshekga has made it very clear that no child will be forced to go to school and that parents have a right to choose, it’s still vital for children to feel “connected to education”. Maintaining some kind of educational programme, benefits children’s mental health and it will make it easier for them to transition back into some form of normality. Accelerated learning While children will have fallen behind, hope is not lost. Well-designed “accelerated learning programmes” have shown some success in helping to reintegrate children even in under-resourced environments. It’s important that these programmes focus on the work that kids would have missed during their curriculum and adapt their lessons. Catch up and keep learning with Paper Video While the restart button for the school year certainly poses some difficulties, Paper Video is aiming to partner with parents and high school learners not only as the ultimate revision resource, but as an excellent way to track progress. Learners have access to some of the best teachers in South Africa and to an unmatched collection of over 11000 video lessons. Lessons provide complete curriculum coverage and are suitable for both CAPS and IEB where learners can brush up and learn everything from individual exam questions to entire topics. Students can choose to access Paper Video online which includes all resources, keyword searching and progress tracking. Their offline packages each include a book of 10 past exam papers and a 32GB microSD card for data-free video access. Visit www.papervideo.co.za or contact 061 357 2304 for more information on how to get started. WWW.MUMSMAIL.COM EDUCATED LIFE
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