Thursday, January 21, 2021

The Kids Left Behind Story

 ARD (public TV news, Channel One) brought up this topic and it's worth a minute or two to think over.

Going back to the spring of 2020....schools across Germany shut-down because of the Covid-19 threat.  What continued was this hit-and-miss virtual classroom deal, with email assignments, and marginal progress by probably of German students.  This went on for roughly two months in the spring.

As schools started back up in August, you had an attempt to keep schools open, but hygiene requirements, freshening air in the classrooms hourly, and continued threats of a shut-down was suggested.

Since early December, schools have been in another lock-down.  It'll probably go to mid-Feb....maybe even mid-March (rumors suggest that).

So ARD went and talked to some educational experts....their phrase used?  "A lifetime of disadvantages."

In simple terms....the 2020 'stumble' and this 2021 'stumble' with education is giving kids a second-rate education.  They are missing key things to get ahead.

Most everyone agrees....they spent a ton of money on IT and LAN structure.  They can get the 'product' to the kid's house.  After that point, the system is very questionable.  

In particular, they bring up the significant migrant kid population in Germany, and they need a true classroom environment to get ahead.  

Resolving this?  The only hope is that the vaccination business works, and schools re-open in August....with no more shut-downs. Odds of this?  Unknown.

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