IBL News | New York
The education of over 90% of the world’s enrolled student population–nearly 1.6 billion learners–continues to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Teachers have worked individually and collectively to find solutions and create new learning environments. For six months now, teachers around the world have been finding creative approaches to face school closures, adapting, and improvising to keep their students learning.
There are many inspiring stories on how teachers kept doing their job throughout the crisis. They remind us that teachers are a vital lifeline for their students.
Some teachers traveled for hours each day to establish small learning groups around a laptop, others walked door to door to distribute thousands of much-needed school meals during the lockdown, yet others delivered their classes from the back of a truck.
“This crisis has created an unprecedented context that has brought to the fore teacher leadership, creativity and innovation,” said a recent report by UNESCO.
“In the majority of cases, teachers were forced to act without much warning and with little time to prepare. Curriculums were modified or condensed, lesson plans adapted, working methods turned on their heads. But, whether via the internet, mobile phone, television, radio broadcast, or the mail, teachers continued to provide an education to their students.”
In countries with poor connectivity, where over 40% of households do not have a computer or online access, many teachers have prepared take-home packages for their students, along with digital communities and support groups on Facebook and Twitter.
In order to celebrate teachers’ leadership during the COVID-19 crisis, UNESCO plans to celebrate their work on October 5th, with World Teachers’ Day, on the anniversary of the signature of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers.
The organization has released an event’s website.
