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High schools have special challenges. Schools are progressively resuming after being closed for the past two years owing to the COVID-19 virus outbreak. While most kids are excited to return to school and are relieved to be able to engage with their friends, classmates, and teachers in person rather than through a screen, the transition can be difficult. The pandemic caused a significant shift in the learning spectrum, as well as changes in school systems, compared to pre-pandemic days. School isn’t just about academics for most pupils; it’s also about social relationships. Many friendships began when students sat next to one another in class. School closures also had an impact on extracurricular activities. Sports, music, school plays, robotics, and a range of other activities are popular among students.
Major Challenges:
Concern about the health and safety of individuals
Evidence-based assessments of the hazards associated with reopening and the dangers associated with school closures should be used to make school reopening choices. Schools represent a low risk of illness transmission for students, staff, and communities, according to experiences from countries around the world where schools have reopened. According to available information, children are less likely to contract COVID-19 and to spread the disease to others. Within schools, transmission has been limited, especially in prekindergarten and primary schools, and teachers are more likely to contract the virus from other staff members than from pupils. Education systems do not need to wait for mass vaccination because of the safe reopening experiences in nations previous to vaccine development, frequently in the middle of significant community transmission. Before reopening, education systems do not need to wait for widespread vaccination of teachers or other adults in the community, however, prioritizing vaccination for teachers may soothe teachers’ worries about returning to classrooms for in-person instruction. Closing schools will reduce the danger of illness transmission at school, but it may jeopardize children’s learning and psychosocial well-being.
Preventing disease transmission
While it is impossible to totally remove the danger of disease transmission in schools, research from recently reopened schools suggests that basic mitigation techniques like masking, social distancing, and ventilation can significantly reduce transmission to children and teachers. While disease transmission in the population remains high, schools can reduce or eliminate non-instructional activities that contribute to disease transmission. While universal testing may not be required, schools should have procedures in place for isolating cases, tracking their contacts, and quarantining those who have been exposed. Given that children are less likely than adults to transmit COVID-19, and that the majority of confirmed school-based transmission has happened among staff, schools and the larger education system should create a culture of adopting mitigation measures inside the institution.
Reorganization of Academic Calendar
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide academic calendars for the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 academic years were severely disrupted, raising challenges about how to approach the present and next school calendars to make up for missed learning and improve student well-being.
Curriculum adaptation
Before the pandemic, most national curricula were known for being overly ambitious, catering to ideal instructors and pupils while ignoring real-world realities. Covid-19 has worsened the problem by limiting the amount of instructional time available to students. As a result, governments should consider compressing their curricula to focus on core subjects and core competencies within those areas. Teachers can also benefit from their assistance by offering detailed lesson plans. Children’s stress and sadness have increased as a result of lockdowns and confinement, underscoring the significance of adding social-emotional learning into the curriculum. Certain social-emotional competencies can be added by countries to assist pupils to survive and prosper in this new world.
Re-enrollment promotion
Many countries may find it difficult to ensure that all pupils return to school following extensive school closures. Re-enrolling vulnerable people, such as girls and immigrants, will very certainly entail significantly more work. Authorities can encourage re-enrollment by providing financial and practical aid to students, closely monitoring the re-enrollment process, integrating women and girls in decision-making, re-evaluating rules that may result in unfairness, and individually supporting the most at-risk students.
Educator preparation and engagement
The pandemic has posed a significant challenge to educational systems in terms of ensuring learning continuity, significantly increasing the expectations placed on instructors and the complexity of their work. Authorities must re-engage with teachers and aid them in enhancing their well-being in order to increase their efficacy. Countries must also offer teachers clear instructions on how to identify students at risk of dropping out and enforce health measures.
Supporting home training
During school closures, remote instruction has taken several forms, ranging from providing study packets to students’ homes to real-time instruction via web platforms. To avoid learning deficits as a result of school closures and economic shocks brought on by the pandemic. Many countries and organizations have already created tools to support children’s learning at home and to assist parents in supporting them during lockdowns, which other countries can license or utilize for free, removing the need to start from scratch. Because schools in many nations perform a vital role in child safety by referring vulnerable kids to social services, school closures may have exposed these students to further abuse and neglect.
Exams and evaluations for learning
Learning assessments help teachers, schools, and education systems identify learning needs before reopening and throughout the school year so that they can adjust instruction and target resources accordingly to prevent learning losses caused by school closures and economic shocks associated with the pandemic. These tests should be targeted at pupils in the early grades or transition years, and they should begin by reviewing the knowledge that was lost during closures in core areas such as reading and math. Education systems can adjust or replace high-stakes assessments that verify school completion or determine transitions to higher levels of education to ensure safety and give every child a similar opportunity to display their knowledge, understanding, and abilities.
Speedy Recovery of Learning
Given that the quantity of learning loss is expected to differ by the student, teaching at the appropriate level will be even more critical in assisting kids in catching up to grade-level norms. In a variety of situations, tutoring programs, personalized self-learning programs, and computer-assisted education have been found to boost student learning. Summer school can be expanded to accommodate more students, and when combined with the “teaching at the correct level” method, it can be very effective. Grade retention is ineffective as a remedial method unless it is used in conjunction with other preventative measures.
Anxiety and Fear
Assuring parents that their children are safe at school will be another challenge. Despite the fact that students will only be allowed to attend class with their parent’s permission and will be required to observe strict Covid regulations and restrictions. Maintaining school safety will be a difficulty as well. It may be difficult to follow Covid guidelines such as hand washing, social distancing, and wearing masks at all times. It is practically hard to ensure that a big number of students in a class maintain social distance and wear masks throughout unless the classes are held in a large place such as an auditorium or stadium.
Also read: College and Career Ready: Soft Skills Are Crucial
Frequently Asked Questions:
Quote at least 3 challenges of reopening high schools.
Curriculum adaptation, Speedy Recovery of Learning, Reorganization of Academic Calendar.
How can anxiety and fear be overcome?
Adopting a healthy lifestyle- proper sleep, good nutrition, exercise, drinking water, and positive thoughts.
Q. How Challenges of Reopening High Schools Can be resolved?
Ans.
- Organizations are being prepared and supported.
- Collaboration with stakeholders
