25th January 2022
The Ministry of Education held an Education Webinar as part of the activities commemorating International Day of Education.Various schools, public and private, got the opportunity to share their experiences about how they have been coping with COVID-19 and measures taken to mitigate the spread of the virus in their schools.
In general, schools had to re-adapt their ways of operation. As one Headteacher expressed “It may have been an operational nightmare, but we dealt with it”. It was further stated that schools had to re-look at their methodology to ensure that learning goes on. Everyone had to keep in mind that the core business is that children keep learning. Aside from the standard National SOPs put in place, schools had to make their own arrangements that work for them respectively.
During their interventions, the Headteachers and Directors of Professional Centres mentioned some similar difficulties faced, for example: lack of internet access; insufficient technology for online teaching; some students not returning the assigned school work; some parents not being able to assist their children with their work and so forth…On the other hand, many positivity came out of this experience. Some of these are: teachers got the opportunity to learn about new mode of teaching; students were trained to access online learning; there has been more interaction between teachers and parents; schools faced fewer disciplinary problems; there has been an improvement in the National and International Examinations for many schools… and the list goes on.
As one Headteacher expressed “Learning is all about engagement. This has been a learning curve for everyone. Challenges have been turned into opportunities”.For the Seychelles Educators, especially the Headteachers, teachers and others on the field, they see COVID as a “clear opportunity to visualise teaching and learning, innovate and make a difference in the life of students.”
The Ministry of Education is very proud of the commitment and dedication provided by all the schools and Professional Centres and wish them all the very best for 2022!