PROGRAM: MASTER OF SCIENCE IN EDUCATION MANAGEMENT (MSc.EM)
ADMISSION NO: 136341
NAME: SUSAN ACHIENG OLUOCH
COURSE CODE: MEM 8205
COURSE TITLE: PROGRAM INSTRUCTION AND CURRICULUM MANAGEMENT.
QUESTION: The COVID-19pandemic is here to stay. It has provided both opportunities and challenges to curriculum instruction and implementation practitioners.
In an essay of not more than three pages, critically evaluate the above statement in relation to;
- Financing teaching and learning.
- Teacher preparedness during peculiar circumstances.
Financing of teaching and learning.
Covid-19 has not only impacted on the Kenyan Education System but also worldwide. The economic shock associated with it is likely to be larger than anything seen since the financial crisis of 2008/2009. The spread of Covid -19 has prompted many governments to develop policies to slow down the transmission. This has contributed to significant trade disruptions and the tightening of financial conditions in many countries. These effects have led to large increases in unemployment and underemployment rates and will continue to threaten the survival of many firms worldwide (Loayza and Pennings, 2020.
Following President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive that Kenyan schools should remain closed till January 2020, the workforce of around 300,000 teachers in Kenyan private schools has been forced to go on unpaid leave or even lost their jobs as a result of school owners being unable to pay salaries. The Kenyan Private School Association (KPSA) has been lobbying the government to sustain their schools and teachers. Kenya’s Ministry of Education is currently supporting public schools and teachers, but many private teachers have had to turn to other jobs to survive financially. According to the World Bank report on the Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Education financing, the pandemic is expected to reduce planned increases in education spending in 2020 in low and middle-income countries. A baseline that considers the likely impact of the pandemic estimate that spending will increase more slowly than in the pre–covid-19 forecasts for low and middle-income countries. If the government prioritize the budgets and reduce the share allocated to education, there is likely to be a downside scenario in which pa capita education spending in sub-Saharan Africa would fall by 4.2 percent.
In the US, evidence suggests that cuts in public education budgets have small negative impacts both on learning and college enrollment rates (Jackson et al., 2018). There is evidence that some countries are already cutting their education budgets to make space for the required spending on health and social protection. For example, in Ukraine, the Educational budget is set for a cut of around 4% of the US$217 in 2020 to make more space to deal with covid related shocks. In Kenya, policymakers have identified development spending on tertiary education curriculum reform as necessary cuts to support the country’s Covid-19response. In Canada and the US, education authorities have announced cuts to their educational budgets, including layoffs, reductions in staff recruitment, and reduction in agreed salary increases.
Even as the Kenyan Government partially reopened schools, teachers, and learners who engage in physical classes are at a higher risk of contracting the Coronavirus as the government has not provided sufficient protective equipment in learning institutions.
Although the transition to online teaching was unprecedented and rapid, IT took place amid a wider ICT transformation process in education systems (Mc Farlane 2019). Digitalization in schools has recently attained prominence. A key argument relates to closing the gap between students’ conventional learning and development at school and the experiences and skills that youths need to enter the information economy(Kozma, 2011). The school curriculum should be vigorously interwoven with ICT, and students should be given opportunities to advance technological tools and digital resources for creative and innovative problem solving (Kozma, 2011).
Evidence suggests that digital technologies may enable new teaching opportunities and learn for meta-analysis (Chauhan, 2017). The use of ICT has become increasingly popular in elementary and secondary schools in recent decades, especially with the emergence of Covid-19. In general, the need to prepare learners for a society in which digital literacy plays an important role has been acknowledged. Student competencies are classic into areas that correspond with the European digital competence framework( Ferrari, 2013). Covid -19 has, therefore, provided an opportunity for teachers to learn digital competence and diversify their knowledge of ICT.
Teacher preparedness during peculiar circumstances.
According to Rusman (2013), the key to education’s success is that one held by the teacher because they directly touch students. The teacher must also ensure that the learning process runs well because of their responsibility and professionalism. In addition to interactive teaching materials and learning applications, it is very im[ortant for the learning process. In the learning activities, the teacher must consider some things, including readiness, learning performance, and learning satisfaction (Hung et al., 2010). Remote learning during Covid 19 has left many teachers dissatisfied, unlike the ordinary physical classes, because of some lack of ICT skills, access to the internet, and laptops.
The abrupt switch to online learning in Israel teacher education colleges instantly realized that the Spring semester had just begun. With no time to adjust and without proper planning, faculty members and students had to adapt to the new technologies and novel modes of teaching and learning ( Johanness et al., 2020). All face to face teaching and learning changed overnight to synchronous or asynchronous teaching or a combination of both. Colleagues provided each other wit with emotional support and professional learning. Despite the multiple services and support resources given to the teachers, the first weeks could be described as hectic, frantic, and full of turmoil. It was only after a couple of weeks that tension subsided in terms of teaching staff. As a result of students’ discontent, many teachers continued improving their online teaching skills throughout the semester. Teachers were exposed to more advanced tools to step up their regular comfort zones and engage students in interactive and collaborative activities. Besides, there has been a major challenge with practical experience. It is widely accepted that an initial teacher education program’s key component is the practical experience (Allen and Wright 2014). Therefore, it is imperative to consider the current delivery and pedagogical methods in school and higher education by seamlessly integrating classroom learning with learning modes to build a unified learning system.
With extreme isolation and consecutive lockdown measures, teachers have been subjected to social anxiety, panic states due to uncertainty, economic recessions, and extreme mental stress, which most educators had not foreseen, leading to depression. According to the latest report by health Service provider Minet Kenya Insurance which was contacted by the Teachers Service Commission; Between April and May 2020, 400 TSC employed teachers either called or visited various health facilities countrywide seeking psychological support due to depression.
Another category of people negatively affected by this pandemic is the youth. Wang et al. (2020) found that young people are affected by epidemics psychologically and feel more stressed, anxious, intolerant, and depressed in a study in which they investigated the psychological effects of Covid-19 in China. Teachers, therefore, have an added responsibility of being caregivers in schools as well as offering emotional support to learners infected and affected psychologically besides fighting stigmatization, a task that teachers and school administrators were unprepared for.
In a nutshell, Covid 19 is a devastating pandemic that deeply affects all humanity, with the education systems being one of the most affected sectors globally. More devastating is that the spread of it continues, death rates increase day by day, life comes to a halt, and its control time is unpredictable.
References
Al-Samarrai, S., Gangwar, M., & Gala, P. (2020). The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Education Financing. Al-Samarrai, S., Gangwar, M., & Gala, P. (2020). The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Education Financing.
Chauhan, S., 2017. “A Meta-analysis of the Impact of Technology on Learning Effectiveness of Elementary Students.” Computers & Education, 105: 14–30.
Kozma, R. B., 2011. “ICT, Education Transformation, and Economic Development: An Analysis of the US National Educational Technology Plan.” E-Learning and Digital Media 8 (2): 106–120.
McFarlane, A. E., 2019. “Devices and Desires: Competing Visions of a Good Education in the Digital Age.” British Journal of Educational Technology 50 (3): 1125–1136
Hung, M. L., Chou, C., Chen, C. H., & Own, Z. Y. (2010). Learner Readiness for Online Learning: Scale Development and Student Perceptions.
Rusman. (2013). Model-model Pembelajaran, Mengembangkan Profesionalisme Guru. Jakarta: Rajawali Press.