than 250 children tested positive for COVID-19,
demonstrating the potential danger.
There lies the dilemma: some people believe
that, until a COVID-19 vaccine has been
developed, schools and colleges should remain
closed. Others argue that there’s no real
guarantee a vaccine will ever be available,
and delaying the reopening of schools could
cause huge challenges down the line. A
paper in 2009 suggested that school closure
could disrupt healthcare systems, as doctors
and nurses would struggle to find affordable
childcare. Factories, too, could shut down
as a result of prolonged absenteeism from
staff due to childcare issues, which could be
catastrophic in some cases, particularly in food
and medicine. One of the biggest concerns
amongst parents and governments is that
prolonged school closures could widen the
education gap, and in some parts of the world,
children rely on school for safety and food.
In the United Kingdom, it was reported that
around three million children were at risk of
going hungry in the holidays.
BLENDED LEARNING MODELS
With governments agreeing that it’s time to
reopen the doors on schools, many are deciding
how best to deliver lessons. Trialed in some parts
of the world, blended learning is expected to
come to the fore, with students being exposed
to several hours of contact time per week,
followed by at-home lessons and coursework.
A math teacher, for example, could run through
a theory such as algebra over five hour-long
lessons during the week and set their students
some algebra equations to complete at home.