Coronavirus May Lead to “Mass Homeschooling”

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As fears of coronavirus mount around the globe, cities and countries are taking action to prevent the new respiratory virus strain from spreading. While the virus has not yet hit hard in the United States, government officials and health agencies have enacted response plans, corporations are halting travel abroad, and education leaders are grappling with what a widespread domestic outbreak of the virus could mean for schoolchildren.

In countries where the virus is active, schools have been shut down and children are at home, learning alongside their parents or through online education portals. The New York Times reports that US schools have been prompted this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prepare for a coronavirus epidemic that could shutter schools and require alternate forms of teaching and learning outside the conventional classroom. According to Kevin Carey of the New America think tank, who spoke to the Times, coronavirus in the US could lead to “a vast unplanned experiment in mass home-schooling.”

Indeed, in Hong Kong this is already occurring. The coronavirus outbreak led to orders for schools to be shut down in the city for two months, affecting 800,000 students. An article this week in The Wall Street Journal declares that “coronavirus prompts a whole city to try home schooling,” noting that in Hong Kong many children are completing lessons virtually through online learning platforms or receiving live instruction from teachers through Google Hangouts or similar digital tools.

It’s unfortunate that it takes a viral epidemic to spotlight the many alternatives to conventional K-12 schooling. Not only is homeschooling widely popular in the US, educating approximately two million children nationwide, but other schooling alternatives, such as virtual learning, microschooling, and hybrid homeschooling continue to sprout.

Virtual learning programs such as the Florida Virtual School, founded in 1997 as the nation’s first fully online public high school, and K12, Inc., one of the largest providers of virtual schooling, enable young people to take a complete course load and earn a high school diploma without sitting in a traditional classroom environment. Supplementary online programs, such as Khan Academy and Outschool, expand learning options and allow young people to dig deeper into topics that interest them or those in which they may need some additional help.

Interest in online learning options is sure to increase as the coronavirus spreads, but other in-person schooling alternatives are also likely to gain notoriety. Microschools, for example, are small, home-based, multi-age learning environments that act like a one-room schoolhouse, typically with no more than 8 to 12 students at a time. Prenda is a fast-growing network of these branded, in-home microschools, with more than 80 schools in Arizona alone serving some 550 students, and plans to expand out-of-state.

Like microschools, hybrid homeschooling programs and small, community-based classes for homeschoolers are also gaining popularity and may be swept into the limelight if conventional schools are forced to temporarily close. Operating with small, age-mixed groups of children, these hybrid models and classes offer an alternative to institutional schooling, avoiding large classrooms and crowded buildings. I have recently launched a marketplace platform, Unschool.school, that connects educators, parents, and learners to these homeschooling models and out-of-school learning experiences, fostering small group, in-person interactions in local community spaces, such as art studios, makerspaces, and spare dining rooms.

These emerging learning options outside of traditional schooling show not only that “mass homeschooling” is possible but also that it may be highly desirable. Personalized learning, small group interactions that build community and connection, and education without the coercion inherent in standard schooling are beneficial whether or not a pending epidemic is what exposes families to these education possibilities. Mass homeschooling may be just the cure we need.

When Will Schools Start Again in China?

On February 24, according to the conference held by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, it was announced that in principle, before the epidemic was effectively controlled, all colleges and universities would remain closed.

On the same day, the Shanxi Provincial Education Department issued a notice that all kinds of schools at all levels would not open before March 15th, and the specific opening time will be announced to the public in advance as per the situation of epidemic prevention and control.

As of now, in order to prevent the occurrence of campus clustering causing an epidemic, the Education Department in most parts of China have updated the teaching arrangements about the 2020’s Spring Term. So, let’s check the schedule below.

HANOI SCHOOL UPDATE: Hanoi: Students from preschool to public high school will continue to be off from school until March 8th, 2020

Kinhtedothi - At the meeting of the Steering Committee on COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control, on the afternoon of February 28, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung agreed to allow students from preschool to public high school to continue to rest until the end of day 8  / 3/2020, private vocational institutions, students of international schools can go to school from 2/3.

Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung: Only when ensuring safety conditions can students return to school

At the meeting, Deputy Director of Department of Health Hoang Duc Hanh said that in Hanoi, so far no positive cases have been recorded with COVID-19.

Currently, there are 85 cases of Covid-19 infection being monitored at the hospital, of which 84/85 cases have tested negative, only 1 case is being closely monitored at the hospital.

Steering Committee for prevention and control of acute respiratory infections caused by new strain of Covid-19 virus in Hanoi, online briefing under the chairmanship of Chairman of City People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung, Head of Steering Committee

At the meeting, the Director of Chu Xuan Dung Department of Education and Training said: The Department continues to direct schools to do the sanitation and sterilization;  training to prepare students for returning to school.

“Basically the schools are ready.  However, before the epidemic situation, there is still a risk of infection at school, so the parents' mentality is still not assured for their children to go to school ”- Mr. Dung stated.

On 24/2, the Department of Education and Training received a request from International Schools to send students to school from March 2.  The reason is that the University proactively invited representatives of the World Health Organization to exchange information on the epidemic situation, good disinfection and hygiene activities in schools;  the number of international school students is not much, the parents' unification;  As the international school curriculum is expected to take place in May, these schools want students to complete the curriculum on time so that they can take the test and ensure results.

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee Nguyen Sy Truong said: The public opinion relies on the drastic and good control of the Central Committee and the City in the prevention and control of epidemics, especially before the situation.  The number of infected people in some countries has increased, but Vietnam and Hanoi are still safe destinations.

Although people are assured of good control of the city's epidemic, so far, cases of Covid-19 infection have not been recorded.  However, most parents are concerned about returning students to school when the epidemic situation in some countries is growing rapidly.

The school is currently safe, but when students return to school it is difficult to say absolute safety.  Therefore, according to the Vice Chairman of Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, it is necessary to calculate the students who return to study.  Besides, according to the general public opinion, many people want to give the students an extra 1-2 weeks off, at which time the quarantine period of 14 days can be returned.

Concluding at the meeting, Chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung said that, based on the proposal of the Departments of Health, Education and Training, Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, and members of the Steering Committee, Chairman of the City People's Committee decided for 284 facilities.  including vocational training by city management from 2/3 of the school in accordance with the guidance of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

For international schools, at the request of the school administrators, to ensure the curriculum framework for the children of ambassadors, foreigners with children to attend (because in August, September, many families may have to  move), in the spirit of commitment to ensuring safety and hygiene, parents agreed, the City agreed to let these schools go to school, ensuring the framework of the curriculum in the world.

Hanoi City People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung also agreed to allow all preschool students and public high schools to continue to stop working on March 8, 2020.

Source: https://fee.org/articles, by Kerry McDonald ;

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/TZnHd9mKlXpVDLkWDZzt3w；http://m.kinhtedothi.vn/ha-noi-hoc-sinh-tu-mam-non-den-thpt-cong-lap-tiep-tuc-nghi-het-832020-376329.html

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