4/11/2020

ONLINE -HOME-WORLD- ONWARD : STUDENTS


In Japan, schools have canceled bulk food deliveries for lunches they will No longer serve, hurting farmers and suppliers. In Hong Kong, an army of domestic helpers has been left unemployed after wealthy families enrolled their children in schools overseas.

Julia Bossard, a 39-year-old mother of two in France, said she had been forced to rethink her entire routine since her older son's school was closed for two weeks for disinfection. Her days now consist of helping her children with homework and scouring supermarkets for fast-disappearing pasta, rice and canned food.

''We had to reorganize ourselves,'' she said.

Online and Alone : SCHOOL and government officials have sought to keep children learning and occupied - at home.

The Italian government created a web page to give teachers access to videoconference tools and ready-made lesson plans. Mongolian television stations are airing classes. Iran's government has made all children Internet content free.

Students even take online physical education : At least one school in Hong Kong requires students - in gym uniform - to follow along as an instructor demonstrates push-ups on screen. Each students webcam provides proof.

The offline reality, though is a challenging. Technological hurdles and and unavoidable distractions pop up when children and teenagers are left to their own devices - literally.

Thira Pang, a 17-year-old high school in Hong Kong, has been repeatedly late for class because her Internet connection is slow. She now logs in 15 minutes early. ''It's just a bot of luck to see whether you can get in,'' she said.

The new class room at home poses greater problems for younger students, and their older caregivers.

Ruby Tan, a teacher in Chongqing, a city in south western China that suspended school last month, said many grandparents were helping with child care so that the parent could go to work. But the grandparents do not always know the technology.

''They don't have any way of supervising the children's learning and instead let them develop bad habits of not being able to focus during the study time,'' Ms. Tan said.

Some interruptions are unavoidable. Posts on Chinese social media show teachers and students climbing onto roof tops in search of stronger Internet signal.

One family in inner Mongolia packed up its yurt and migrated elsewhere in the grasslands for better  web connection, a magazine reported.

The closings have also altered the normal milestones of education. In Japan, the school year typically ends in March. Many schools are now restricting the year-end ceremonies to teachers and students.

When Satoko Morita's son graduated from high school in Akita Prefecture, in northern Japan, on March 1, she was not there. It will be the same for her daughter's ceremony at elementary school.

''My daughter asked me, ''What's the point of attending and delivering speeches in the ceremony without parents?'' she asked.

For Chloe Lau, a Hong Kong student, the end of her high school education came abruptly. her last days were supposed to be April 2, but schools in Hong Kong will not resume until at least April 20. 

The honor and serving of the latest global operational research on the State of the World and Students, continues. The World Students Society thanks authors Vivian Wang, Hong Kong, Makiko Inoue, Tokyo.

Reporting was contributed by Su-Hyun lee, Seoul, South Korea, Constant Meheut from Paris; Elisabetta Povoleda, Rome, Niki Kitsantonis from Athens' and Farnaz Fasihi and Rick Gladstone, New York 

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Grace A Comment!