2020 was a year where the world seemed upside down for children. They can’t go outside, their schools and local playgrounds are closed and life as they know it was changed. The prospect of 2021 being a bit better is a valid perception as the world is ramping up its vaccinations and facility reopening albeit with strict consideration for health and safety protocols.
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) released a publication about the impact and possible reshaping of school, playground and children’s development moving forward:
Supporting students in a post-COVID-19 world
- Mindset shifts: Firstly, there should be a consensus that access to internet and computers are no longer a privilege, but a basic need. To make education accessible for all students, policy makers could work towards providing laptops or tablets as an essential item in every student’s backpack. Furthermore, internet access for educational purposes should also be affordable for every student and teaching staff.
- Reskill & Upskill the teaching community: Secondly, to provide quality education to students, there needs to be an increase in the number of quality teachers who can adapt to non-traditional methods of teaching. To ensure that courses are delivered effectively in the online environment, policy makers should consider the launching of standardized how-to-teach-online courses for teachers. In addition to being trained on the technological component, the course should also cover methods teaching staff can use to remotely assist students with special learning needs.
- Curriculum adjustment: Thirdly, existing school curriculums are not designed to be fully taught online, nor are they entirely relevant in preparing students for a post-COVID future. UNICEF explains that many schools tend to jump straight into online learning with the assumption that students and teachers can continue from where they left off in the classroom. However, it does not mean that class content, concentration levels or assessment marks are directly transferable due to the changed circumstances. Additionally, policy makers should consider integrating financial literacy classes to current school curriculums.
From the UN Publication, the three focus are:
Distance Education
This could be a setup for the next few years or so as the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic still lingers in local or small outbreaks. Current distance learning programmes must evolve where parents, educators and government overseers must work on a more dynamic and more interactive form of learning:
- Face screen time
- Audio reading sessions
- Multimedia usage of video and storytelling
- Physical education sessions done virtually
- Online conferences
- Online enrichment activities
Adaptive Methods of the Educational Industry
There is also a need for educators and educational faculty to upskill and brush up with their digital skills in managing curriculums online, implementing multimedia in the virtual classroom and learning to handle different outcomes based on online sessions across classes and planned activities.
Evolving Curriculums
With the lessons drawn in Year One and how the education system quickly pivoted to online setups because of the ensuring lockdowns, there must be a comprehensive study on the inefficiencies, effectiveness and overall reception by children to this new education outcome before the model evolves to welcome new setups on online learning.
Physical Play
Physical exercise and Social Interactions are the main concern of the medical experts because of the pandemic. Children aren’t getting the physical activities they used to prior to the pandemic:
- Going to the playgrounds
- Physical education activities
Schools and parents must address these situations as the lack thereof of the above are detrimental to the development of children in the long run.
To start, home workouts for children on youtube and free materials for use are found in the internet such as Youtube, etc. Parents must take up the task of adding physical activities to their children as they are undergoing home schooling. Educators must also accomplish a physical education workout session on their curriculum.
As playgrounds are looking to reopen under the new normal, communities and commercial spaces are also planning to adapt to the ways in bringing back play to the daily life of children. If you’re a commercial space owner, a business owner or a community manager who are looking to establish a playground, iREC, a playground manufacturer can assist and deliver an detailed playground plan. Contact iREC today: Call us at +63 047 250 2779 / +63 047 251 3139 or email sales@irec.ph to get in touch with our sales team.