School beats closure with e-lessons

Sakhu Galma, a pupil of Children in Freedom school during an online lesson yesterday. The school has adopted virtual learning after schools closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

The coronavirus pandemic has put to test every sphere of human life.

It has not spared the education sector, which is meant to generate knowledge useful in solving the myriad challenges faced by society.

And following the closure of schools to contain spread of the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic, some innovative teachers have turned to technology and are using various platforms set up by government and private sector to instruct learners.

A spot check by The Standard in various schools and homes established how life for learners has changed from physical to virtual classes.

The team established that learning from home could be greatly hindered in poor families who have no access to the infrastructure needed for a virtual class.

The venture is costly. Parents have been forced to acquire laptops and also have internet installed in their homes. Besides the installation, one has to spend not less than Sh100 daily for connectivity.

All is not gloomy as some schools, among them Children in Freedom in Lanet, have launched a pilot programme where learners are engaged on pending class work that was to be covered in the first term from their respective homes.

First term

Monday morning began with the learners holding an online assembly opened by the children reciting the national anthem, as is the norm in schools on Mondays and Fridays.

“We started virtual learning a week ago and it has been a success on what we were to cover during first term. The learners will sit the end term exams later this week,” said Oku Kanayo, the school director.

At the school, each teacher is in their office armed with a laptop equipped with a webcam and loaded with content for learners in various grades.

Through an online platform, the teacher is able to interact with all the learners on a screen and conduct 30-minute lessons while at the same time taking questions from them in real time.

“We have reduced the number of lessons per day to three. From morning to noon, we have two lessons with breaks in-between. The final afternoon lesson ends at 3pm,” said Oku.

From the teacher’s desk, the process appears an easy task but the main challenge lies on the other end where the learner and their parents are.

At home, parents ensure their children wake up early and prepare for class as usual. Galma Chachu, a parent of three children, explained that though the new system is effective, it is costly. He, however, says it’s worth investing in.

“The situation popped up from nowhere. I wasn’t prepared for e-learning. I sourced laptops for my two sons and daughter from my nephews who are university students. Installation of internet connectivity came with a high cost but their education matters more,” said Chachu.

Unique model

He said the model requires more involvement of parents who may not always be available to supervise and assist their children, roles that were previously handled by the teachers.

“After the lessons, teachers send assignments via mail while learners do it in books. I take photos of what they have written and send back to the teachers for assessment. Children can’t do all this on their own and I may not be there all the time,” said Chachu.

Apart from the live engagement with their teachers, the learners are also provided with prerecorded learning materials prepared by their teachers or sourced from different online platforms.

These appear to be a blessing in disguise for the new Competence Based Curriculum, which lays emphasis on children taking up tasks practically.

Art and dancing are the favourite lessons for Alawia Achieng’, a Grade Two learner at the school. With the assistance of her mother Fatuma Tune, Achieng’ gets access to the content recommended by the school through a mobile phone.

“I have learnt a lot of artwork from the videos. When I’m tired with one task, I move to dancing lessons, which happens to be my hobby,” said Achieng’.

Ms Tune says discipline is pivotal for the success of the programme before children can be left unsupervised with gadgets. “I am glad the discipline she has at school is the same at home. Before doing anything with the mobile phone, she has to seek approval. I have also ensured she can only access appropriate material for her age from the web,” said Tune.