What? No GCSE’s?

Of all the pandemics to hit countries in the past, the coronavirus may be the biggest crises to hit the world as we currently know it. Stock markets have experienced extreme volatility and oil prices became negative for the very first time. It has been said that the economic effects of this pandemic will outweigh the effects of the credit crunch of 2008. So I ask , what would the effects of Coronavirus on formal education be? In a time where almost all of the world has had to lockdown and effectively shutdown what used to be the normal way of life. Can it stay the same? Will it have the same purpose? What was it’s main purpose in the first place? What needs to change? and should there be any change for that matter?

Education before COVID-19

What was the main purpose of formal education? In 2015, Schools Minister Nick Gibb in his speech outlined the purpose of education and highlighted it’s importance in adulthood. He said,

“We all have a responsibility to educate the next generation of informed citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said, and instilling in them a love of knowledge and culture for their own sake. But education is also about the practical business of ensuring that young people receive the preparation they need to secure a good job and a fulfilling career, and have the resilience and moral character to overcome challenges and succeed”.

I agree with this and will even dare to assert that this purpose was mostly being fulfilled . However, once the country went into lockdown and schools closed I could not help but notice one trend. The rebirth of creativity. In the bid for education to produce the job holders of tomorrow to drive the economy , had it effectively stifled all forms of creativity? With so many job losses reported during this pandemic , will this practical purpose of education still hold? Will what pupils have studied especially for GCSEs be useful? How will the job holder with the current education fare in the workforce now that technology has inspired innovation like never before with businesses? Will there need to be further investment of time and professional study? There are so many testimonies of people turning their hobbies into serious business. Perhaps the purpose of education must be reconsidered.

Education during COVID-19

Homeschooling as the new normal and main way of education during this period of lockdown has undeniable echoes of what education was like before formal education in structured schools was set up. The informal ways that life skills and lessons were taught predominantly in African and Latin American communities before the European intellectual movement of enlightenment seem to be replicated here. Parents or the family unit have taken the main responsibility of teaching and in so doing have also enhanced the opportunities to instil values , discipline, morals and resilience. Homeschools may have also enhanced the fun factor of learning and acquiring knowledge and the love of learning especially without the added pressure of exams. Thus the media reporting during the lockdown has not been short of stories of ingenuity from children creating and manufacturing PPE visors to the teaching of PE online. Is this an indication of the changes to come?

Education after COVID-19

With the government’s recent announcement of the phased plan for the re-opening of schools , it will be interesting to see what the ongoing impacts of the Coronavirus will be.

There are so many questions, but one thing is certain. The Impact of COVID-19 on education has had and will continue to have an undeniable and lasting effect on the generations to come. So can it still be business as usual or shall we make drastic changes now by rethinking the purpose of formal education? In the words of Julius Nyerere “It takes years for a change in education to have its effect” so we need to make a change now.