What is the before and after of the pandemic in education?

Source: The Weather

By: María Isabel Rueda

María V. Angulo, Minister of Education, officially launched the reopening of schools using a hybrid learning model. She explained the requirements and emphasized that parental approval is essential. “After the pandemic, we will need to focus on math, language, and science,” she said.

We are in the midst of the controversy surrounding the reopening of schools. How has the pandemic left a before and after in terms of school education?

In Colombia and around the world, we came from a reality of inequality in learning.

What the pandemic did was present us with the challenge of transitioning to homeschooling. But students' circumstances are very different in urban and rural areas. And, despite all the efforts, here and around the world, with educational television, radio, online resources and content, distribution of learning guides, and the pedagogical messenger, you'll find that each child faced the circumstances or the learning process differently. We can say that the challenge intensified.

And, on the other hand, in Latin America in particular, the challenge of improving infrastructure and connectivity is becoming more visible.

What did we take advantage of during the pandemic to move from that before to this after? Did we manage to use this time to better prepare, for example, teachers?

Yes, more training opportunities did open up. To that end, we created a project called Contacto Maestro, in which, just to give you an idea, during the pandemic last year, we invested 44 billion pesos to enhance these opportunities. This allowed teachers not only to advance in a specific area but also to improve their use of technology and develop leadership and emotional intelligence skills.

That's one of the, let's say, "lessons" learned from the pandemic. The second is that education can be supplemented with different types of content, and that can be an advantage if we're talking about rural areas, for example. It's not necessary to work in person; you can also complement learning with content from television, radio, and online portals, which, when well-designed, is a fantastic resource in rural areas.

The goal is to have a multi-platform system that supports the learning process.

And how has the family-school relationship evolved during the pandemic?

During the last five or ten years, the experts' recommendation has always been how to bring families closer together in a different way, not just to go and check their children's grades.

It is undeniable that the pandemic definitely brought the family closer together, allowing them to see the complexities of the educational process for each of their children, and also to understand in what space and models they feel safest.

But was it finally possible, in the midst of the pandemic, to reduce educational inequality, or did it inevitably increase?

Prior to the pandemic, the main challenge was closing the learning gaps.

And so the government began. With the Pact for Colombia, Pact for Equity, which placed the focus of education on equal opportunities. We want to reach this population that faces the greatest vulnerability.

How to close that gap in the midst of a pandemic?

She showed us that when we act together, with entities such as the Department of Social Prosperity, and the ICBF, for example, we are not only giving support to the family, but also tying together many elements associated with education.

And, on another note, in the higher education program, although it's not the specific topic of this interview, we aim to combine conditional cash transfers for living expenses with the scholarships we provide, thus creating more comprehensive state support for students' families. We signed an agreement that significantly increases funding for public universities, and we created the Generation E program (Education, Equity, Entrepreneurship) so that deserving, low-income youth can access higher education.

The goal is to provide free access to 336,000 young people. Before the pandemic, 165,000 were already enjoying this benefit.

There are many benefits. But what is the cost of adapting to online education?

More than just numbers, what I can tell you is that being in front of a computer all the time is not the same as learning through television. There's a gap there, and that's going to be costly in terms of the fact that in the coming years we'll have to significantly reinforce our knowledge of math, language, and science.

I imagine the emotional toll has also been high…

Yeah.

And that's especially noticeable among teenagers. Being able to go to school, interact with friends, and work on practical, lab-based subjects are definitely very different if you do it in person versus through isolation at home. Several programs have been developed focusing on empathy, and in some cases, depression, which is no small matter.

And what can you tell me about school dropout rates?

It's another issue that needs a lot of work.

While we managed to keep the percentage dropout rate close to the figures from the year before the pandemic, it's crucial that no child is left behind. The dropout rate in preschool, primary, and secondary education is close to 2.3%, out of an enrollment of nearly 10 million children. Obviously, there is significant work to be done to prevent this, especially in rural areas. Another cost we had to bear was in preventing dropouts in higher education. In Colombia, 50% of enrollment is in public universities and 50% in private ones. We created a solidarity fund, with resources that were also contributed by the Department of Social Prosperity (DPS), to enable these young people to pay their tuition and continue their studies.

In other Latin American countries, measures have focused on basic education, leaving higher education somewhat more open to market forces. We are also closely monitoring the issue of domestic violence, which shows an increase in indicators.

With the reopening of schools, what do you say to a teacher who is legitimately afraid of being infected by children?

Since August of last year, we have formed a scientific committee with Health and Education to address all issues surrounding the return to school.

To give you an example, there was the University of Antioquia, and together we built a portal with a lot of information to make available to teachers and parents, among other things, on the topic you're mentioning, which has already been disproven by various studies: that children are vectors of contagion. You see children in places like shopping malls, restaurants, parks, you see them at family gatherings.

So, school isn't an unsafe place?

Quite the opposite.

The resolution we worked on with the Minister of Health, who has been a great ally in my opinion, doesn't set impossible parameters, but rather seeks to guarantee social distancing and biosecurity. It's not a debate between health and education, but about how to harmonize taking care of ourselves, following all health recommendations, with implementing the educational process, because the harm will be far greater if we don't.

And on this subject, there is research from UNESCO, the UN, which has shown that in educational processes, especially in early childhood, middle and secondary education, social interaction and interaction with teachers are fundamental.

Where are we today? Are private schools following the alternating attendance policy while public schools are not, or is it a mix of both?

No, ma'am, we have both succeeded, fortunately.

We published the guidelines for the alternating attendance process in June of last year; we were the second Latin American country to do so. The goal was to begin educating the public, because we knew it wouldn't be easy, precisely because of the fear. Then, in October, we issued the resolution, with all the details, for the protocols.

We conducted pilot programs in public and private schools in 75% of the country. The pilot programs concluded in December, were documented, and this allowed us to allocate 400 billion pesos to the Education Secretariats so they could start the year with the necessary funds for all aspects of the protocol. Once these funds were disbursed, each secretariat had to submit its hybrid learning plan. We approved all 96 plans, because there are 96 Education Secretariats, and I have noted here those that have already begun in-person classes.

One of them, which is doing unparalleled, tireless work, is Antioquia; Envigado, Pitalito, Atlántico, Caldas, Rionegro, Sabaneta, Barranquilla, Buga, Girón, Itagüí, Montería (from where I'm giving this interview), Palmira, Pereira, Quindío, Santander, and Valle del Cauca have also started. That's where we stand today. Next week I'll continue visiting municipalities because I'm trying to go and support each department that begins the process. We have to overcome the fears of all the community members.

It's not a debate between health and education, but about how to harmonize taking care of ourselves while following all health recommendations.

Alongside the fear of the teachers, there is also that of the parents…

They are still fearful. We have involved parent associations a lot in the processes. In Montería today, I was very struck by the active role of the parent representative from public schools; he is very knowledgeable about the protocols; this makes the spokesperson inspire confidence, because the hybrid learning plan is approved in each school, with the consent of the parents.

What conditions are required for a public or private school to open with alternating attendance?

Depending on the region, there are two situations: in some they have already started.

In other areas, such as Bogotá, which experienced an epidemiological peak, they are starting today with private schools and next Monday with public ones. There are also delays in some cities or departments that had not yet finished preparing and purchasing supplies for each location.

These two conditions must be met: the Secretary of Health, through the local alternating attendance committee, must give their approval based on whether the variables indicate it is safe to reopen; and the venue must be equipped with the necessary biosafety protocol materials. Furthermore, the proposal must have already been submitted, because alternating attendance obviously involves a combination of schedules and times to prevent overcrowding.

Finally, would you support putting teachers on the front line of vaccination, given their responsibility in society?

Of course, they are already a high priority.

After the medical sector, those on the front lines of COVID-19 care, and those over 80, teachers are in stage three of phase one. Therefore, they have the highest possible priority. This analysis was very thorough by the Ministry of Health, which also compared it with analyses from other countries; first comes the front line of COVID-19 care. Even teachers with comorbidities, or those over 70, will be in the second stage, before the rest of the teachers. This indicates that they are a very high priority.

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