Effects of Covid-19 on Education Worldwide

[PeteC]

Parents and teachers protest against ATK test and face mask mandates at schools

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/pa ... at-schools

A group of Thai parents and teachers against mandates for ATK tests and face masks at schools held a protest outside of the Ministry of Education and Public Health yesterday. Many schools and universities in Thailand are back to on-site classes again, but under the Covid-19 prevention measure set by the Public Health Ministry. Every student has been asked to show an ATK test result before entering and required to wear a face mask at all times. Some parents, especially those who have young children, argue that repeated nasal swab tests can hurt their children. They also say it’s an extra expense parents have to cover.

The group gathered yesterday in front of the ministries together with different signs against ATK tests and wearing masks at schools. Some held signs that said “Get ATK test every week costs too much and nonsense,” “Let’s get your child on ATK tests, and you will know how we feel,” “My child hurts, and I hurt too,” and “Public Health is brutal.”

One of the protesters told Thai media that parents cooperated with online classes for two years now and the mandatory Covid-19 tests disrupt studies. They questioned why healthy students are required to get tested.

Some teachers also share messages and pictures on social media saying that they disagree with the Covid-19 prevention measures launched by the Public Health Ministry. One teacher says testing children with the ATK test is “brutal,” adding that adults are even put off by the thought of a nasal test.

SOURCE: Khaosod

[handdrummer]

If the goobermint is going to mandate testing for school children, the least they can do is pay for them.

[HHTel]

I think most schools are already covering the cost of ATK tests. I may be wrong but I have 3 grandkids at 3 different schools, 2 in HH and 1 in BKK and the ATK tests are done at school with no charge.

[PeteC]

It will revert back to a random 10% of pupils and staff weekly as it was before this current procedure was announced by the Gov. That's the way it was before Omicron hit, and our school has already announced it will be that way again as soon as they're given the green light.

[buksida]

Pandemic causing 'nearly insurmountable' education losses globally: UNICEF
School closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic have caused "nearly insurmountable" losses in education among children around the world, UNICEF said on Monday.

More than 616 million students are still being affected by full or partial school closures, the UN children's agency said.

In many countries, in addition to depriving millions of children of the chance to acquire basic skills, these disruptions have affected students' mental health, put them at greater risk of abuse and prevented many from having access to "a regular source of nutrition," UNICEF added.

"Quite simply, we are looking at a nearly insurmountable scale of loss to children's schooling," said UNICEF Chief of Education Robert Jenkins in a statement, almost two years into the pandemic.

And "just re-opening schools is not enough," he added, calling for "intensive support to recover lost education."

UNICEF reported that "learning losses to school closures have left up to 70 percent of 10-year-olds unable to read or understand a simple text, up from 53 percent pre-pandemic" in countries with low and middle income.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/22531 ... lly-unicef

And here in Thailand where there is virtually no covid comparitively ... schools remain closed. Educating the next generation has never been a priority in this country.

[Dannie Boy]

There was a school near me that was open yesterday - not sure of the name but it was definitely junior age school children (11 or below) - it was the first time I had noticed children there so assume this was their first day of opening?

[buksida]

The school where ours go (large Catholic school) has been closed since February last year. It had a spurt of a couple of weeks in 2021 and was also shut for half of 2020. Its still closed today.

I'm not sure if the govt dictates to them, or the schools can make their own judgment calls. Either way, they seem to prefer to remain closed.

[HHTel]

3 grandchildren of school age. The eldest at Salesian but only every other day and no extra out of hours classes as there used to be.
My next should be at a school in BKK but has remained closed to this day, though they do online learning for what it's worth.
My 3rd who is 5 has been out of school since the beginning of closures. His school in HH is still closed and no online learning.
My youngest who has just turned 4 doesn't know what the fuss is about!!

[Dannie Boy]

This is the name of the school I mentioned previously โรงเรียนสารสาสน์วิเทศออนซี I can only find it in Thai, but Google translates it as Sarasas Witaed On Sea School. I recollect that it was only built roughly when Covid hit, so this could be their first opening?


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[Lost]

Destroying children's entire academic lives one day at a time. And for what?

England has a pretty decent education system, so should fare better in remedying the staggering amount of learning loss already occurred. Thailand will not fare as well. Next up in the UK, is trying to reverse the '1 in 6 with mental health problems' among students caused due to fear mongers and incessant Covid clickbait.

We sacrificed the young to 'protect' the old (83 years old average in uk).

[PeteC]

There's really no comment appropriate for the contempt I have for these people. Let's start a massive "Go Fund Me" and send these kids to a good country to finish their education.

Thailand won’t allow entrance exam makeups, other Asian countries do

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/th ... untries-do

Thai students planning to take their university entrance exams must now miss the exam if they are in quarantine or self-isolation. The only other option is to take the exams next year. Meanwhile, other Asia countries are allowing students in quarantine and isolation to take this exam. China allowed students to take entrance exams at hospitals and special facilities, while invigilators wore protective clothing and hung up the finished papers to be sprayed with disinfectant.

South Korea allowed students to take it in self-isolation. Japan is less flexible than China and South Korea, however, the country still allowed students to take the test who had come into contact with Covid-19 patients but had no symptoms themselves. Students who showed symptoms were allowed to apply for a catch-up test that will take place from January 29 to 30. Japanese authorities urged universities to develop ways of helping students forced to miss the exam.

In response to the uproar by Thai students, the exam systems manager provided three reasons why the exams could not be made up. The manager, Associate Professor Dr. Chalie Charoenlarpnopparut, told Thai PBS World…

“First, to lower the risk of transmission, disease control laws prohibit infected cases from leaving quarantine. Second, we cannot hold exams in hospitals because all TCAS testing sites must have the same standards. Hospitals will not be able to comply [with those standards], and we do not have the ability to handle contaminated papers. Third, we cannot come up with different questions for a catch-up exam because our tests must be fair to all. There are no advantages or disadvantages.”

Source: Thai PBS World https://www.thaipbsworld.com/how-covid- ... -students/

[Dannie Boy]

The penultimate word is wrong, it should have been “There are no advantages just disadvantages.”

[Lost]

^^^

Just makes me so damn angry this. Children have been the biggest losers by far in all of this. How their education has been handled in many countries is nothing short of criminal. Closing schools. Canceling exams. Masking up kids. Instilling fear into kids about the 'killer' virus. Not allowing complete normality for them in the classroom environment.

Criminal.

[Big Boy]

One of the biggest problems will be getting them back into the classroom. My youngest granddaughter (who is a swat) was allowed back into school a few weeks back. She was told she was allowed back in every other day. However, so few were turning up for school, she argued that the classes were well below 50% subscribed (it does seem parents were as much to blame as the kids), and even if she went every day, the school would be nowhere near their allowed 50%. She was allowed to go every day, and the most kids in her class on any day was 13 (a full class would normally have been 50 to 60 kids). OK, she's a swat, but I'm not writing about her - it's the kids that weren't turning up. It will be a hard habit to kick - especially for teenagers. I certainly know when I was a kid, I wouldn't have bothered with online learning - I'd have been out with my mates, kicking a ball or fishing. As teenagers, they will consider themselves young adults, and know better. They will be too used to this freedom.

This non-institutionalised behaviour of not attending every day will run over into their working lives. Why on earth should they get out of bed each morning? Somebody firstly has to get them back into an attendance routine. Only then can the learning re-start. It will be unfair on swats like my granddaughter, but school needs to go back a couple of years for these kids, and somebody need to hit the re-set button. Maybe swats can be fast streamed (regular pace) to save them duplicating work.

[lindosfan1]

I cannot provide a link (cannot remember where I read it) In the UK the education authority stated there were nearly 100,000 pupils who had not returned to school this month.