The spread of COVID-19 across the globe continues to challenge and disrupt human systems, and this includes the educational system. It has wrought havoc on schedules and programs of educational institutions. Classes, exams, and even graduations have been put on hold. But this has not stopped the more affluent countries from continuing with educational activities.
Through a variety of digital formats, classes go on as usual
for those who have access to the Internet. With the power of cutting-edge technology, IT providers have become the new breed of superheroes that save the day, implementing
the modern concept of “learning anywhere, anytime.”
In a very short span of time, we have witnessed changes in educational approaches, in how students can be educated around the world, or in a particular geographical location. Unfortunately, in many developing countries where education is not given due priority in the government budget, schools and universities have indefinitely suspended all learning activities due to lack of viable means or access to such technology. Moreover, these means are beyond the reach of the majority of students who are indigent.
There are two sides to the same coin here. On one hand, we see the rise of techniques and new formats to teaching and learning; on the other hand, there is a neglect of traditional approaches still being followed by many in less-advanced countries. But this crisis we are all in is showing us a convergence of a worldwide network of experts providing interventions to manage the chaos the pandemic is creating. We see that swift interventions are being made to meet the varying needs of millions of students worldwide.
We see notable ideas made available on the Internet. For instance, in the World Economic Forum website, we find a fairly recent article last March 3, 2020. The authors suggest 3 ways the coronavirus pandemic could reshape education: (1) nudged and pushed to change by the situation caused by the novel coronavirus, education has led to surprising innovations that could be here to stay; (2) public-private educational partnerships set up to utilize together digital platforms as a temporary solution to the crisis could grow in importance and eventually become a prevalent trend in future education; (3) if access to education becomes dependent on access to the latest technologies, the digital divide could widen the gap in education quality, and thus socio-economic equality between countries, and even between families, will be exacerbated.
Gloria Tam and Diana El-Azar are two high-ranking officers of the Minerva Project, a “leading educational innovator, preparing exceptional, lifelong learners to address the most complex challenges of our time.” Defining this as a “time for learning to be more resilient, relevant and effective,” they affirm that “the pandemic is also an opportunity to remind ourselves of the skills students need in this unpredictable world, such as informed decision-making, creative problem solving and perhaps above all, adaptability.” In short, these skills require resilience. As both of them wrote: “To ensure those skills remain a priority for all students, resilience must be built into our educational systems as well.”
True enough, resilience and adaptability in these unpredictable times are necessary to hone the skills of every student. And perhaps even more so, they endow each one with the needed skill set to survive!
However, education, in its truest sense, is not only geared to equip the learner with skills and means for survival. It also aims to make him or her authentically human and be at the service of society, a learner who is capable of embracing and building humanity. Today, more than in the past, this primary role of education – due to the present circumstances – has been brought to light. Looking beyond ourselves and caring for others in our global community is a daily lesson to be learned so as not to lose our humanity.
On February 20, 2020, during the Plenary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, Pope Francis emphasized that education today must bring about global changes. There is an urgent need to “unite efforts in a broad educational alliance to form mature people, capable of overcoming fragmentation and opposition and rebuilding the fabric of relationships for a more fraternal humanity.”
The Holy Father made an appeal to all those who have political, administrative, religious, and educational responsibilities, for them to re-invent the “village of education.” Here he notes another typical element of education: it is a “team movement.” We are familiar with the ancient African proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child” or more importantly, it takes a village to educate a child. According to him, its aim is “to revive the commitment for and with the younger generations, renewing the passion for a more open and inclusive education, capable of patient listening, constructive dialogue, and mutual understanding.” He referred to this as the “educational pact.” He emphasized how this needs to be “revolutionary.”
“Education that places the person and his/her potential at its center has the purpose of bringing the person to knowledge of self, of the common home in which the person lives, and, above all, of the rediscovery of fraternity as a relationship that produces the multicultural composition of humanity, a source of mutual enrichment,” affirmed Pope Francis.
Therefore, it should be inclusive and reach out to all regardless of sex, religion, or ethnicity, as well as to those excluded due to poverty, war, natural and man-made disasters, and family and existential difficulties. So, in these uncertain times, all stakeholders in education, (administrators, teachers, parents, students, business leaders, elected officials, etc.) are enjoined to be up to the challenge, having the courage to value the human person, make full use of each one’s God-given gifts and form new people who are ready to give themselves in service to others in the community.
