10/03/2021
RESCUING OUR SCHOOL CHILDREN AFFECTED BY COVID-19
Given the ongoing disruption to children’s education, it is important for parents, guardians, teachers and students to avoid five big mistakes.
1st Mistake- Doing nothing to help students to address learning gaps created since 2020 when schools were disrupted by Covid-19 lockdown. Unless parents take the initiative, secondary school students are doomed to a life of academic struggle having missed more than one academic year. The gaps cannot be addressed by compressing the syllabus within the normal learning hours. Homes have to be transformed into extensions of the classrooms to enable additional lessons. An appropriate inexpensive homeschooling tool is required.
2nd Mistake- Maintaining ignorance of basic facts about Covid-19 virus such as; (i) just like many other viruses, Covid-19 will be with humanity for many years to come, (ii) countries face the risk of new waves of infection from new strains of Covid-19 – with each wave expected to be worse than the previous wave, (iii) new strains of the virus require more resources for effective detection and management, (iv) vaccination plays a very important role in preventing infection, disease burden and death but basic public health measures remain critical, (v) the popularity of conspiracy theories help create a vaccine hesitancy and reduce chances of early achievement of HERD or population immunity, (vi) limited availability of resources complicate the Government’s ability to effectively control the pandemic through tried and tested public health strategies such as contact tracing strategy, free & continuous mass Covid-19 testing, masking the population, free mass vaccination, quick identification of new strains etc.
3rd Mistake – Expecting the Government to restore the education sector to the pre-Covid-19 status before the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the pandemic over. Covid-19 is going to be around for a while. An early return to a pre- Covid-19 classroom-based learning environment is not a realistic expectation within the near future. Reduction in the risk of infection within the school settings will remain a challenge for most Governments and communities because compliance with WHO infection prevention protocols in school settings require a large investment of resources to finance sustaining of PPE, construction of more classrooms and buying additional furniture to comply with social distancing, hiring additional teachers to reduce class sizes, wearing of the right type of masks, carrying major renovations to existing classrooms to allow greater circulation of air, access to clean water at each school, frequent FREE testing using better test kits that are able to detect new variants etc. Parents, guardians and teachers may need to plan for possible frequent disruption in classroom-based learning during a pandemic such as COVID-19.
4th Mistake- Failure to identify and adopt a sustainable low-cost homeschooling tool to help address the child’s current learning requirements while at the same time addressing knowledge gaps created by Covid-19 disruption of classroom-based learning since 2020. Covid-19 disruptions have already created learning gaps that may never be addressed within the normal classroom setting and available time hence the need for parents to plan and implement innovative technological interventions that transform homes into extensions of the classroom.
5th Mistake- Taking no action to ensure that your child’s school has installed its own ONLINE e-learning-platform such as that developed by Zimbabwe Valley View which rural and urban schools can FREELY install. This innovative solution does not require schools to be connected to the internet or ZESA power. This e-learning platform is already loaded with lesson content (teacher’s notes, audio, video links, coded assignments) covering ZIMSEC and CAMBRIDGE syllabus (Forms 1-6). The e-learning platform empowers parents to transform homes into extensions of the classroom. One of the uniqueness of the tool is an educational APP that students can download on any mobile gadget. Once downloaded, the APP creates an e-learning environment and virtual classroom without the student connecting to the internet. The tool has been designed to eliminate student dependence on expensive data and to use mobile gadgets that can easily be powered by solar energy. WhatsApp platform has been integrated into the e-learning platform and the educational APP. The integration gives students unlimited access to their own school teachers (if the school is registered in the project). In addition, students have unlimited access to full-time subject specialists who are part of the e-learning platform. With this fully loaded e-learning platform teachers strikes, school closures and other disruptions cannot STOP virtual classroom-based learning and in addition, gaps created by COVID-19 can now easily be addressed.
PRE-REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR SCHOOLS & INDIVIDUALS WHO WANT TO HAVE FREE TRIAL OF THE INNOVATIVE SOLUTION
1) SECONDARY & PRIMARY SCHOOLS WhatsApp + 263772248540, +263773412323 and request for an application form to install FREE e-learning at your school.
2) PARENTS & STUDENTS WhatsApp + 263772981253, +263733355883 and request for the application form to enrol starting with a FREE trial.
3) PROJECT TEAM: Dr David Chitate (+263771150105) is a Pandemic specialist and Sexologist who has retired from the United Nations after a career in which he served in 8 countries. Dr David Chitate in partnership with Dr Timely Chitate, Mr E Chinyowa (retired Acting Director for Strategic, Policy, Planning, Research and Statistics within the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education a position he held for 4 years), Mr Micah Matsilele, John Siwawa an IT expert and Cambridge Systems Administrator in Zimbabwe is among Directors of Zambezi Valley View College. A team of 15 other dedicated subject specialists have been involved in putting this innovative solution together by developing and uploading content.
