To ensure that Africa effectively responds to the impact of coronavirus on the educational sector, experts have called on the government and other relevant stakeholders to train and include teachers in developing a response strategy.
The experts who spoke at the third online webinar series titled ‘Disruption &Innovation- Reshaping Education in Africa Post-coronavirus, organised by Axiom Learning Solutions, say that teachers are the backbone of any educational system and the key to reaching learning goals regardless of the context and situation.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has not only shown the widening gap and inequality in student learning, but it has also shown the lack of preparedness and deficient skills in teachers,” Olubukola Adebonojo head of execution of teaching and learning strategy, Axiom Learning Solutions Limited.
“COVID-19 responses need to be developed with the full involvement of teachers and their representative organisations at all steps in education policymaking and planning,” Adebonojo said.
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She also called for the provision of adequate professional support and training for teachers to ensure that quality teaching and learning can continue during the crisis and that post-pandemic recovery is rapid.
Adebonojo stated that post-COVID-19, the out of school rates in sub-Saharan Africa will increase as many children will be unable to go back to school owing to the economic fallout from the pandemic.
She noted that Africa is still struggling to effectively move to online platforms in delivering learning owing to the inadequate tools in deploying such technology while urging the government to make use of all possible delivery modes that are realistic, cheap, and sustainable in deploying online learning.
Also speaking, Alec Couros, Professor at the University of Reginal, Canada said that teachers need a lot of training post-COVID-19 on how to effectively engage their students.
According to him, teachers that have done a lot in deploying technology in teaching amid the pandemic are those that have participated in digital training before.
“We need to focus more on teachers’ training and the ability to deploy technology wildly. We must also continue to lobby the government to provide access to the technology needed for learning,” Couros said.
Ani Charles Bassey-Eyo, cofounder, Axiom Learning Solutions said that there is currently pressure on teachers and learners owing to the pandemic, adding that such pressure must be overcome.
“Do we need to look into the curriculum for training teachers post-COVID-19?” he asked.
Bassey-Eyo called on teachers to rely more on soft skills to engage learners better, while also asking them to impact the children.
