“It’s not like knocking a school in a circle,” asked how many students and their parents ask the school for help to provide computers so that they can study remotely, Rūdolfs Kalvāns, the director of Sigulda State Gymnasium, answers the portal “Delfi”. On Monday, November 1, all students, starting in the 4th grade, will learn from their homes. Experience in implementing distance learning is “rich”, but not everyone has a computer at the moment. The Delfi portal explains the difficulties of this semester and how they are addressed by those involved in the learning process through distance learning.
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Municipal support; tablets “do not count”
Kalvāns, who is also the chairman of the board of the Latvian Association of Educational Leaders (LIVA), says that in his school the situation with the availability of computers for students “is much better [nekā pērn]To help children who do not have the necessary equipment at home, the school interviewed parents a week before the start of distance learning. For those who lack a computer, the school lends them. This is how the lack of technical support “torch” elsewhere: for example, in Iecava Secondary School, says its director Kārlis Krava.
Local governments also help to provide computers for students. “Of course, every child in every family does not have a computer yet. The question is how the family’s own money has been used to supplement such equipment. [runa ir par vienreizējo 500 eiro lielo ģimenes pabalstu – red.]. Specifically, at our school the municipality bought about 30 new computers this year, next year we will ask for more [līdzekļus datoru iegādei], “explained Cargo.
The situation is similar in Dricāni Secondary School – there the place has provided computers for 10th grade students. Skaidrīte Strode, the director of the educational institution, explains: in case someone lacks a computer, the school will temporarily lend the equipment owned by the school, namely a tablet or a computer.
Kalvāns emphasizes to the portal “Delfi” that tablets are not a tool for students to participate qualitatively in the learning process. “The student can enter the” e-class “, he can do something on” assignments.lv “, open the” Youtube “link, read something. It is not communication. Complete and write more creative tasks – it can be fully done with a computer. Phone and tablet is below the subsistence level, “explained Kalvāns.
Waiting for the state to “squeeze” in the provision of computers
The chairman of LIVA points out that he knows about several schools that are waiting for the results of the new public procurement. It is a memorandum of cooperation “Computer for every student” – so the aim is to create a computer library where every student and teacher can get a computer for their own use during the study period to ensure a full-fledged learning process. IZM organizes computer procurement.
Last year, when the memorandum was signed, then Ministry of Education and Science (MES) Parliamentary Secretary Reinis Znotins (JKP) expressed hope that with this memorandum of cooperation computers may be available at the beginning of this school year – in September, in October. Expectations were not met. As the representative of the Ministry of Education and Science Jānis Aizpors explains to the portal “Delfi”, “taking into account the complex nature of the procedure and procurement”, the ministry plans that the first computers could reach the municipalities in the spring of 2022.
The Latvian Trade Unions of Education and Research Workers (LIZDA), Inga Vanaga, chair of the Delfi portal, said that the availability of computers for teachers should also be improved. “Teachers would also need more technical support [nepieciešams] update what has already been purchased, “she explains.
The biggest difficulty – combined training
Combined learning or the so-called hybrid mode means that the teacher works simultaneously in two environments – full-time and remote. It is almost impossible to ensure the quality of this type of learning process, Kalvāns believes. “For example, if a teacher has to work in two forms for a long time – in the face and in person. Then in the end there will be no chicks or grabs for those who sit in person. The educator would also pay attention, “estimates Kalvāns.
The combined training has to be implemented in case a Covid-19 patient is found in the classroom. In this case, the contact persons of the patient go to quarantine. In addition, at present, during an emergency, quarantined Covid-19 contacts should also be followed.
The principal of Dricāni Secondary School says that she has not yet had to work in hybrid mode at the school she runs, because she only managed to “catch” Covid-19 students a week before her free time. Then part of the class had to be quarantined. Teachers handed out the study materials to students who were not allowed to attend the educational institution in person.
The implementation of blended learning is also an additional burden for teachers, according to LIZDA. Namely, teaching materials must be prepared in two ways. “I have not heard many situations where teachers would be very excited about such blended learning – it is an additional burden both in terms of workload and emotional, because that teacher has to take care of students on two different platforms at the same time,” says Vanaga.
Delfi has already reported that working in a combined mode is one of the biggest challenges for those involved in the learning process, including: in higher education.
Regarding the prevalence of Covid-19 in schools: 32% (40,781 tests) of Covid-19 tests in the week before the two-week school holidays were related to screening of educational institutions, but 68% (85,768 tests) – with the rest of the population. Of the positive cases of Covid-19, 15% (2121 infected) were related to educational screening and 85% (12 219 infected) to the rest of the population.
It has already been reported that from October 21 to November 15, a home session or strict restrictions on the movement of the population was announced for four weeks in Latvia with the aim of significantly slowing down the spread of Covid-19 infection, reducing the burden on the health care system and saving as many lives as possible.
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