Virtual Education is not the problem!

It is not my intention to oversimplify virtual education. The issues are multilayered and even the best of teachers and parents are struggling to keep our heads above the water! How do we care for our own personal needs and those of a partner? How do we care for the domestic duties of the home, and ensure our children are keeping up with their assignments? I know it has been tough to cover all of the basis!

The virtual education space is a shared space. On the one hand, the home is a noisy office for dad to bam together his cabinets. On the other hand, the space is for Shantae’s teacher to drone on about Chemistry. Does Shantae’s needs take precedence over dad’s? We could argue that Shantae represents the future and because of this her educational needs take precedence of all. However, if dad is unable to provide for the family financially, there maybe no electricity, or food and the rent or mortgage will surely go unpaid. How do we use the virtual space so that all members of the family can thrive? These are the kinds of conversations families should have although

I would admit, prior to Covid-19, the home for many was just a roof we had over our heads! These changing times demand that our lives get a new pair of eyes and embrace this new paradigm shift of how we use and think about space.

Since the pandemic, a computer or cell phone is no longer just a conversation for the elite! We have been forcefully gripped to face the reality that internet use and a computer or cell phone increases our capacity to operate at our optimal in the world.

The use of technology to educate people is not a novel idea though. From 1994, C.R. Walker, one of the local public schools in New Providence was gifted 30 computers by Nova Southern University. As a result of this gift, Urban youth for the first time were exposed to computer technology and were able to leave high school technologically competent. If we had truly believed then that computer technology was important for the development of the Bahamas, by now every student and parent in this country would have been proficient in its use. Instead, computer studies remained an elective in the public education system. This must change now!

Our lack of focus on the issues that have been contributing to our failure in education as a country is working to our detriment! Business Mogul Brian Tracy advocates that if we want to be successful, "we must identify the primary thing that will contribute to our success and focus solely on this.” In education and other sectors, we keep doing the opposite! And this opposite is contributing to wastage and our inability to be competitive globally.

Prior to Covid-19, poor parental involvement was an issue in the public educational system then- and it continues to be a problem now! Failure of students to take responsibility for their learning was an issue then and it continues to be a problem now! So please don’t villainize virtual education because it is not the problem! Covid- 19 has only exacerbated the problems that have been in existence from I began teaching in 2004.

When I was in junior high school in 1991, I walked to the neighbour’s house to use their encyclopedias. I never saw a lack of resources as an obstacle to completing homework assignments or obtaining an education. My grandmother who did not have the fancy education, taught me to never make excuses. If the gas went out, we reverted to using firewood to cook outside in the 80's. If the light went out, there was a kerosene lamp to use and if there was no kerosene, I began homework early enough so that I could take advantage of the sunlight. People who want to learn, will do so if that is what they want to do!

However, the issue I faced back in 2011 of a lack of consistent internet access when I taught in Moore’s Island is an issue we are still facing now in 2021 in New Providence. We are still grappling with who should provide internet service? Should the government shoulder the responsibility of providing internet service for its citizens at this time? Should parents pay to use the internet whether they are working or not? These are not complicated questions; however, they do have economic and social implications! And these questions test our moral fiber!

Are we interested in removing the obstacles that exist to learning or not? If we are then, I.P addresses could have been registered with internet providers and those who are of school age could have been offered internet access at least during school hours free of charge.

If we were interested in removing the obstacles that exist to learning, we would have already created Learning Hubs where children were free to go if their homes were not conducive for learning. Our lack of progressive, decisive and collaborative action reveals we do not want to resolve the multifaceted, solvable issues which exists with virtual education.

Our forefathers did not raise us to make excuses though! In their deprived state, they looked toward the future albeit they were maids and tradesmen who for many could scarcely read. Virtual education demands that we employ ingenuity and take responsibility for ourselves. Students who stay away from school for the entire year, without saying one word to school officials and then when it is time for grades to be distributed, want to be given make-up assignments should be reminded that there is no reward for irresponsibility. Our forefathers did not raise us to make excuses for the lack in our lives!

It saddens me that almost three years into the pandemic we are still in a quandary. Do we continue with virtual education or do we move to a hybrid model? I get it parents, you are tired! And you do want relief! Virtual education has amplified the need for many social changes! Educating your children is challenging especially when you do not get the support you need. Teachers have felt your pain for years! For many parents and leaders, the belief is let’s get the students back to school so that we can have a sense of normalcy. However, Covid-19 variants demand otherwise. The health and safety our citizens trumps all!

Our ideal is getting back to the classroom! However, if we embraced virtual education, by using the empty libraries, the vacant churches, constituency offices, Urban renewal centers and auditoriums that we have available, our children would feel a sense of normalcy. We have already given out the free devices to those who did not have one ,so now let’s create the structure by assigning students to alternative learning sites so that they can get on with learning if they want to! What is sad and working to our detriment is our insistence on replicating the old system of how we educated students. Despite the fact that Covid-19 calls for a different kind of education. Despite the fact that our system of educating our youth was not working and has not been working for many years now.

Covid-19 is giving us a unique opportunity to diversify the educational product we have been offering. Through the use of technology, we have the capacity to better meet the needs of all children.

We must adjust our thinking! If we do so we will develop normalcy. However, because we keep resisting the reality that Covid-19 is here to stay at least for the next 36 months, we remain in a quandary in the public education system. Virtual education is not an inferior form of education only our mentality towards it as leaders.

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