After more than two years of navigating schools’ closures, online learning, and some in-school rotations, children across all levels finally made a complete return to face-to-face classes last week. While COVID-19 concerns linger, I believe that the bigger challenge ahead is recouping the learning losses.
Learning losses include the knowledge and skills children may have either forgotten or been unable to grasp – especially when out of school. Learning losses during the pandemic have also factored in unequal learning among children in the same grades and the worrying concern that children might have dropped out of school entirely.
These losses have been feared and actually experienced here in Guyana, across the region, and throughout the globe. Studies have found that children in lower socioeconomic brackets have been disproportionately affected for myriad reasons, be it limited or no access to tools for online learning, parents’ or guardians’ financial challenges, and exposure to violence, neglect, and/or abuse.
In Guyana, I don’t doubt that hundreds of children have been impacted. My own younger sister, who is about to sit the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) in another few weeks’ time, grappled with unstable electricity and internet connectivity when she attempted to attend her classes online. And for a 10-year-old whose heart is set on performing well at the upcoming assessment, those experiences were, understandably, frustrating.
But there are many more children who, I’m sure, faced unique challenges that hindered their ability to ably engage in learning during this pandemic. For example, after the NGSA last year and a mock examination this year, the Education Ministry found that hundreds of children were absent from the assessments. That fuelled fears of school dropouts and concerns about children’s well-being. It also prompted a new “Operation Recovery” initiative that sees officials heading into communities and actively searching for those children, with a view of reintegrating them into the school system.
Now, I’ve written about the support provided to children during this trying timing – being it textbooks or cash grants. Even so, I believe that too many children – especially the most vulnerable ones, have faced some form of learning loss. And now that schools have reopened fully, it cannot be a simple return to teaching as though the learners were not out of school for an extended period of time.
Yes, I know that the returning children each have to undergo diagnostic assessments meant to gauge what learning gaps exist. I am also aware that a consolidated curriculum has been crafted, effectively allowing teachers to fill in the learning gaps from the preceding year and move ahead with learning new content. I genuinely believe that these initiatives will help children readjust to in-person classes and recover some of the academic knowledge and skills that they might have missed or lost.
I also believe, however, that children’s education extends beyond academia. Schools have always been a space for children’s socialisation, growth, and even safety. Children develop academically, mentally, and physically in schools – understandably so, because they spend most of their waking hours there. As such, I believe that strategies geared at recouping learning losses must also consider the non-academic challenges children are recovering from.
A child who has, for example, faced a highly disruptive home environment over the past two years needs certain psychosocial support. Children who might have faced abuse after staying home for an extended period or children who were forced to side-line their learning to work and support their families all need that support. Though social media might have been an excellent tool for keeping people connected, children also need support in socialising with one another again. For me, these considerations are just as important as the thrust for academic recovery.
I believe that teachers, the local education authorities, and parents and guardians will earnestly seek to provide all of the support that children need. And perhaps, these are thoughts that policymakers have already considered and will be tackling. Whatever the case might be, I hope that we spend the next few months meaningfully helping children learn and recoup those learning losses.
If you would like to discuss this column or any of my previous writings, please feel free to contact me via email: vish14ragobeer@gmail.com
