By Dimithri Wijesinghe
5 October was International Teachers’ Day. However, considering the state of the world, being preoccupied with curbing the spread of the pandemic, the celebration of the services rendered by some of society’s most invaluable contributors was lackluster at best. Especially in Sri Lanka, with the discovery of a new Covid-19 cluster and the subsequent panic, the much-deserved recognition and celebration of our teachers who have continued to give their best, was pushed aside.
This year’s theme for the international day is “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future”, highlighting the work done by educators when both schools and higher education institutes were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Considering the role of teachers in building resilience and shaping the future of education, we see that they have an imperative role to play. In this crisis, teachers have shown great leadership and innovation in ensuring that no learner is left behind, by finding solutions and creating new learning environments for their students to allow education to continue and embracing this time as an opportunity to reimagine education and the importance of providing equal access to quality learning for every student.
In recognising the roles that teachers have had in helping to ensure that a generation of students can reach their full potential by taking online classes despite not being familiar with the new technologies, they’ve ensured that the pandemic doesn’t put a pause on the education of their pupils.
We reached out to a number of teachers who shared their experience on engaging in distance teaching and how they see the next few months panning out for their students, especially their exam-focused students, who had to not only prepare to face a defining moment in their life in terms of their school careers, but also process the unknown and constant uncertainty that has come with a global pandemic.
Great pressure on the teachers
Chamila Wasanthi Gamage, Principal at Lanka Sabha Junior School, Battaramulla
The truth of the matter is that for the younger children and really the majority of the children in schools, Covid feels like an adult problem, and for the past few months, while many children have grasped the importance of wearing protective gear, they tend to have short attention spans and most children wish to be free without any restriction. Especially when they are made to do something, they often opt not to follow through and so we have been dealing with situations where children have been lax in wearing protective face masks and taking other precautions.
Now, with this most recent situation, as it is on “top-of-mind recall” and all the adults around them would stress, they would wear it (protective gear), but once again, if the heat soon runs out and people begin to take it easy once again, children too will act in accordance. Students are very attune to their surroundings and they feel the nature of the environment around them.
Therefore, if this starts to happen, it creates a great pressure on us as teachers. In addition to making sure they remain safe, we too must maintain our safety and by extension, our families. As such, it is really important that awareness is created and that it remains a current topic of discussion.
As for examinations and such, we have adopted an approach where we do not worry about covering the syllabus. What we have decided on now is to have exam-focused learning for the students. We carry out lessons that involve past papers and revision, which means that instead of teaching a whole lesson inclusive of understanding a topic in a broader sense, we make use of learning that is exam based and focused on certain popular areas that are questioned, which to be honest, has been effective.
The students just wish to get it over with
Augusta Anthonymuththu, teacher at St. Bridget’s Convent, Colombo 7
If you consider the online sessions conducted initially, it was a challenge, because we had never done it before and we were asked not to switch on the video as it was distracting; that was even more of a barrier, because it created an impersonal layer.
I teach Grades 9, 10, and 11, students preparing for Ordinary Levels, and while we had no choice but to carry out online classes, when we got back to school, many students shared with us that they were not listening to some of the lessons, and they asked me to repeat certain lessons. While I was very happy that they came and requested the repetition of lessons, there were difficulties like that.
As for the older students, the ones facing their Advanced Levels especially, they have become exceedingly de-motivated by these constant extensions. You would think that they would be happy about the more time they get to study, but their mentality is different. They are finding it difficult to stay engaged for so long and at this point, they just wish to get it over with.
As for covering syllabuses and things like that, we truly made use of the online lessons. We were able to cover the lessons and when they came back to school in August, we started with revision straight away.
Sri Lanka is nowhere near being able to (move to an online grading system) effectively. Many of the senior teachers faced a lot of difficulty when it came to handling online tools and if we were to move to an online grading system and online test-taking, then we would have to really streamline and carry out workshops and establish an infrastructure where the teachers are well trained to modulate such activities.
The very fabric of the right to free education is tested
Gulzar Ahmed, teacher and coach
Ever since 12 March, teaching in Sri Lanka took an unexpected and much-needed turn, at a pace one would have never expected. The much-criticised internet was the lifeline of the education sector in Sri Lanka. Despite the sudden embrace, it was not an easy pill to swallow for the mass majority of the stakeholders in the field. As a teacher, teaching via Zoom or any other platforms our schools adopted wasn’t as simple as walking into a classroom and teaching a class full of students in person.
The greatest difficulty was that teachers weren’t familiar with the online mode of teaching and hence, it was a learning curve for teachers. Students islandwide don’t have stable internet connections and, in some cases, even the teacher doesn’t and as such, it acted as a hindrance to us and the student.
Also, when eight million people in this country barely make Rs. 1,000 per day, you can’t expect their children to be able to attend a virtual class on a daily basis. Virtual learning might look feasible in Colombo and some other districts, but how about the kids in districts like Monaragala or Kilinochchi? The very fabric of the right to free education is tested.
Therefore, as teachers, we can do nothing but hope for this pandemic to pass and prepare ourselves in the coming years to adapt to new modes of teaching and train our students to adapt to new modes of learning, for we have to embrace technology which is an integral part of life on this planet.
Parents have an imperative role to play in their children’s lives
Rizka Ismath, teacher at Zahira College Colombo
When the pandemic was at its height, almost overnight, we as teachers had to suddenly figure out alternative ways to teach our students. While taking into consideration the varying degrees of access to the internet that our students had, some of them found it very difficult to find a decent internet connection.
We used WhatsApp to share most lessons and had a weekly Zoom session, which would be utilised to discuss what was shared via WhatsApp. We had to use WhatsApp because that is what most people had access to most widely, and Zoom was very rarely accessed. About 50% of the students had access to it; not just an internet connection, but also devices. Some had to either share with siblings or they straight up did not have them.
As for the perspective from a teacher, I would say that personally, I did enjoy it to an extent. It was certainly a learning experience. We were made to attempt something we otherwise would never have tried to learn. I learnt a lot; we learnt how to search online and utilise online teaching and learning materials that were readily available.
However, when we went back to school, what we found was that despite all of the online lessons, students hadn’t gasped all that much by way of those lessons, with many of them needing to brush up on all those lessons before we moved forward. Perhaps since it was a new experience this was so, but from what we have seen, distance learning was not very effective.
As for examinations and online tests, I do not believe that Sri Lanka is ready for such a thing yet, as there are a few resources. Finally, for us to move forward and if the most recent incidents indicate an extended period of living with the pandemic, bringing the promise of a much longer time living in this uncertainty, I think that parents have an imperative role to play in their children’s lives. With children spending their learning time at home, parents must take charge and familiarise themselves with these online learning tools too, so that they can better support their children.
Education is no longer a ‘filling of the cup’ but is rather a ‘lighting of a spark’
Asanka S. Perera, Sub-Warden at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia
Moving our entire education system to an online platform was something no one predicted, but due to the new experience that came with it, there was much interest shown by parents, teachers, and students alike. For the teachers, it was a very useful tool as we were able to continue the lessons without the lockdown being a hindrance. For the students, it was a very useful tool to meet their friends again from various parts of the country, and provided them the ability to learn at their own pace and not be restricted to a classroom lesson, which may at times speed past them due to the lack of time.
We were able to continue their education, and in a big way, we were able to continue keeping them physically active during the lockdown, with all our sports activities being done online and having regular PE (physical education) sessions for all the students of the school. Headed by our Sports Department, this was done while keeping in mind the “Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body” concept.
However, the sad reality is that the facility was not something easily accessible to all. We had students who were not able to come online due to the lack of data or even a device for the same. With the help of the Old Boys’ Association and friends of the school, we were able to provide the necessary devices and data for as many as possible as per their need, very successfully.
As time went, and as parents resumed their work life, we found that the interest of the students started to drop ever so slightly, due to the lack of monitoring at home, through no fault of the parents. This was a challenge, but the teachers did what they could in order to maintain their interest. Although the tool is useful, if there is no supervision at home, the exercise is found to be less fruitful. This creates a need for responsible independence, which may not always be forthcoming.
The future functioning of the country may look bleak at present. However, having established a working “online” platform, we will simply switch to the same to carry on teaching – learning we would have otherwise missed. The onus lies with the student, and for the younger students, with the parents. Education, especially through online means, is no longer a “filling of the cup” but is rather a “lighting of a spark” as the present Warden always says. Resources are many, and the teacher needs to only facilitate the students in accessing the resources responsibly, as required, in order to further their knowledge and learning.
