Schooling in lockdown mode

While the new educational circumstances have been a source of chaos and humour in many households, many parents have found the stay-at-home teaching model difficult to navigate, even with remote help from real teachers.

As South Africa entered Level 4 of a five-level lockdown system last Friday, domestic work and, it is believed, nannies and au pairs, will only be allowed back at work at level two, with creches outside the school system also falling under this level.

Amid the barrage of learning apps, video meet-ups and e-mailed assignments many parents are quickly realising how difficult homeschooling their children will be.

The stress is compounded for families with several children in different grades, or when parents work long hours outside the home. In some cases, older siblings must watch younger ones during the day, leaving no time for their own school work.

Ballito mother of three, Kylie Keeton said reality kicked in when Easter break ended and home learning began in earnest. With it came the tears and tantrums.

“Apart from having to up-skill in every known department, I think one of the main challenges has been wearing a variety of different hats for my kids. I am now the PE teacher as well as the teacher for the 10 subjects to my grade four and grade three boys and grade one girl (why do they have to learn the “th” sound with no front teeth?). I have even developed a teacher’s voice that I pull out at bedtime with a “I am waking you at 5am for boot camp” threat,” said an overwhelmed Kylie who cites routine, flexibility and bribery as key attributes to surviving this new normal.

Mother of two, Maria Bronzin who is working from home and home schooling her two boys, said some parents do not have the luxury of not working.

“You cannot give a six-year-old schoolwork, leave them to their own devices and expect them to complete the work willingly. At the same time still manage your own workload, supervise your grade five’s work and tackle a mountain of house work. We are working in pandemic mode and right now my husband and I are juggling a variety of tasks and doing the best that we can under these challenging times.”

A mother of two who works as an essential worker leaves her husband at home to mind their two children.

However, working from home requires he spend most of the week holed up in a separate room because his job is mainly done by phone.

This leaves their grade five daughter to supervise her four-year-old sister.

As a result, many parents have pushed the weekly load of schoolwork to weekends and try to cram as much into two days as they can.

Those with older children may be faring better, but parents still must keep track of timing for video chats with teachers and make sure all the assignments are completed.

“A video cannot look at your child’s face and see the confusion. Only a teacher can do that,” said Bronzin.

Educator and father of three, Haden Keeton said: “The challenge we see with remote home schooling for parents who have two to three children aged between grade R to grade five, is the amount of intensive oversight and facilitation required, on top of housekeeping, cooking, working from home and trying to maintain some sort of exercise regime.

“Parents are required to start school at 8am and work through to at least 4pm, in order to accommodate all three children, with a few breaks and lunch. Younger grades need constant oversight and intervention.

“The challenge with real-time teaching via the web or an app, is the disparity in technology and bandwidth across the various homes coupled with the complexity of multiple children needing access to devices and bandwidth simultaneously.”

Bearing in mind we are talking about teaching not homework or recapping. Also, the younger children struggle with distraction and attention in a normal class environment.

“Now put them into an online, real-time teaching scenario and watch the mayhem unfold. This delayed return to school is going to wreak havoc, especially where parents are returning to work and cannot be at home to support and supervise their children,” said Keeton, co-founder of Eden Village Preparatory.

Basic Education minister Angie Motshekga last Thursday said the aim was to reopen most schools by the start of June, but only for grades seven and 12, with the other grades being phased in slowly.

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