And while the year of living with the pandemic has pulled at the very social fabric that binds us together - these things, in time, will normalize - and hopefully - in a year or two, we'll be back to greeting friends with hearty handshakes, and loved ones with warm hugs. But what we may never get back is that year that the most vulnerable children spent out of the classroom. Yes, the system responded and innovated with blended learning, and many children did learn at home - but what about those on the socio economic margins with little or no access to internet and devices?
They lost a whole lot - and with already high drop out rates for high school - we may have lost many of them to a life permanently on our outside the margins.
And, indeed, no matter where your child is on the socio economic ladder, there was definitely leaning loss in the past one year outside of the classroom. Jules Vasquez went back in the archives to where it all started Friday March 18, 2020:
Hon. Patrick Faber - Minister of Education
"School will close at the end of the school day on Friday March 20th, and so Friday is a full school day. I think there was some kind of misunderstanding that suggested that there is no school on Friday, well let it be clear that we expect to have full class sessions on Friday and at the close of the day Friday, which means effectively Monday morning there will be no further classes. That is for a 2 week period, that will take us right into the Easter break and I believe that the plan is for us to return on Monday April 20th."
One year after that announcement, they still have not returned to the classroom.
School playgrounds remain abandoned, basketball courts now strangers to the sound of a bouncing ball
Well, they never returned and the new abnormal of kids staying at home, and not being in school became the new normal.
And then suddenly we slid into summer - no PSE, no big graduations, no proms.
And then summer ended - and just as classrooms were about to opened….COVID surged, leading to blended learning:
Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
posted (September 7, 2020)
"Welcome students, teachers and parents to this new school year 2020/2021. This will be a unique year marked with blended learning, virtual classrooms and that home learning engagements. The home will be the new classroom."
It gave rise to new opportunities, but also, new challenges:
posted (September 15, 2020)
Melanie Bodden, Standard 6 Teacher, Belize Elementary School
"I think this entire pandemic has taught all of us the need to loosen up and not be so rigid, everybody is just so fixed and I think the ones who are able to survive this time are the ones who are flexible and can adapt, because you can't be rigid anymore. Anything can happen…"
Indeed, that is the quintessential lesson of 2020 - and, for many students, the worst thing that has happened is the widening of the digital divide:
posted (September 15, 2020)
Nicolette Awardo, Teacher, Grace Primary
"I have about roughly 60 to 65% of parents who have access to an electronic device and internet at home, other parents have to work on data which is not that reliable therefore that poses some challenges."
Challenges which have alienated many students in this difficult year out of the classroom - challenges which could set back an entire generation.
And to reset things, reports suggest that some schools could be approved to re open classrooms by mid-April - about three weeks from today, or after the Easter holidays.
We asked the Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca about this possible timeline today and he said, quote, "We are tabling a Cabinet Paper tomorrow regarding the phased reopening of schools. Once that is approved we will put out a release on the matter."
