Covid-19 -Teachers speak out
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we do a lot of things – from the way we worship to the way we study.
The Junior Graphic asked teachers what Covid-19 had taught them.
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Dennis Nii Odai Okley,
Integrated Science (JHS) Teacher,
Wesley International School,
Koforidua, Eastern Region.
All over the world, people are overwhelmed by the Covid-19 pandemic. It has practically affected everything leading to the closure of most places of human gathering with schools, not an exception.
This pandemic has taught me many lessons as a teacher. Among these are:
1. Strict adherence to rules and regulations no matter your status in life.
2. The value of human beings and the premium of having the freedom to go about your duties.
3. The need to reach out to people in need and, for that matter, helping one another.
4. Appreciating the gift of life and the privilege of being alive.
5. Nothing in this life is secured. Life can throw anything at us at any time. We must, therefore, be ready at all times.
It has also taught me to:
1. Explore innovative ways of ensuring teaching and learning.
2. Appreciate the use of technology and technological tools to ensure effective teaching and learning.
3. Be ready to engage my pupils no matter the distance apart.
4. Offer my services to my pupils even in their homes to ensure they are kept active and learning even in this difficult time.
I have taken these lessons with me and they will form part of my decisions from now on. I will incorporate some of these lessons learned in my future endeavours.
So far, I am reaching out to my pupils via the e-learning platforms with my money. I have not received any support from anyone. I accept it as a duty and a sacrifice so I will continue until when this pandemic is over and we can return to the classroom.
Mr Prince Larkai
Mt. Carmel Memorial School,
New Weija, Accra.
Although Coronavirus is a calamity, it has immensely changed our view of the world. Paramount among the lessons the pandemic has taught us is the use of technology in education in our part of the world.
We never knew teachers could teach and schoolchildren could also learn effectively online. Though expensive, it is better than doing nothing.
Most students are now oriented on how to productively use technology in their learning such as doing research, improving their reading skills, and submitting assignments.
Another vital lesson in this period is the essence of personal hygiene. Although the role of the media in sensitising the public to personal hygiene has gone a long way in reducing the spread of the pandemic, teachers must also continuously emphasise those measures in their classrooms to reduce the spread of other infectious diseases such as cholera in our communities even after Covid-19.
As a teacher, there has not been any significant aid from anywhere but we are still trying our best to assist our students.
We appreciate the fact that the government and other stakeholders are supporting people in one way or the other but I don’t think most private school teachers have been beneficiaries yet.
Most teachers are relying on their little savings and family for survival so I, hereby, plead with everybody to try in their small way to prevent the spread of the disease because people are suffering.
Ronald T.Yeboah
Elsie Lund schools
Tamale, Northern Region.
Covid-19 is the biggest deadly pandemic I have witnessed in my 32-year life on earth. It has no regard for professions, wealth, or fame.
As a teacher who is very hardworking and always ready to teach and assist my students, being stuck in my room alone is hard for me but there is nothing I can do because we are not in normal times.
After this global pandemic, I will use at least two minutes of my lesson time with my students to stress the need to practise good personal hygiene.
That is, washing their hands regularly with soap and water, not touching people, surfaces and objects and also to wash their hands thoroughly after returning home from school and outside.
My only difficulty now is that during this Covid-19 pandemic most teachers have been left to their fate. Aside my family members and siblings who support me, there is no help from anywhere but we are also helping our students to learn so that some form of studies will still go on although we are all home.
It is my prayer and wish that we get a solution to this deadly disease so we can go back to school and resume studies.
In the meantime, I advise all children to always obey the safety protocols and even be ambassadors to urge their parents and people who are still in denial that there is a killer virus out there to prevent the spread of the disease.
I will also appeal to the government to strictly enforce the wearing of the face and nose mask since some people still do not see the need to wear it; despite the education.
