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Coronavirus Pandemic : How will it affect students around the world?

MenInG

MenInG

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Below is the UK situation but am sure similar issues will happen in other countries too.


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Pupils whose exams were cancelled due to the coronavirus epidemic will be given grades estimated by their teachers, the government has said.

The announcement comes as most UK schools closed their doors to a majority of pupils indefinitely in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.

But many schools will re-open on Monday with a skeleton staff to accommodate the children of "key workers".

There are concerns the hastily arranged system may struggle to cope.

Teachers in England will look at coursework, mocks and other evidence from A-level and GCSE students and will award grades.

And a process will be agreed with exam regulators and exam boards to see that pupils' "hard work and dedication is rewarded and fairly recognised".

A similar process is likely to be followed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

England's Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, said cancelling exams was something no education secretary would ever want to do, but it was vital in these "extraordinary times".

"My priority now is to ensure no young person faces a barrier when it comes to moving onto the next stage of their lives - whether that's further or higher education, and apprenticeship of a job," he said.

The announcement came as hundreds of thousands of school pupils were saying sometimes tearful goodbyes to each other for possibly the last time.

Pupils at the end of primary, GCSE and A-Level students do not know whether they will see their classmates again in school.

Head teachers and local authority officials have been struggling to work out whose children they should be accommodating when schools partially re-open on Monday.

The government has published a list of key workers whose children can still go to school if they cannot be looked after at home.

These workers' jobs are considered "critical" for the response to the pandemic.

The list has been separated into eight categories, including frontline health workers and social-care staff, nursery and teaching workers and those involved in food production and delivery.

It also includes the police, those in key public services, transport workers and critical staff in financial services and utilities.

Northern Ireland Education Minister Peter Weir has said all schools there should be prepared to cater for key workers' children after they close on Monday.

https://www.bbc.com/news/education-51980831
 
US universities are closing down campuses and chucked students out...

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The coronavirus scare is giving Sonali Mohan, a Gurgaon based education consultant, sleepless nights. Apart from the anxiety over the widespread infection, she is now unnerved about both her daughters studying in US universities, especially after 150 colleges asked students to vacate campuses and shifted classes online to check the spread of the virus.

"My younger daughter is a final-year student in Pomona College in California and it is impossible for her to even consider leaving the US now despite classes going online.

She is preparing for her thesis, for which she needs access to the library and laboratory. She will also be filing a petition for optional practical training (OPT), which will allow her to remain in the US and look for a job after course completion," says Mohan.

The period between filing for OPT with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and getting an employment authorisation document, which permits a student to remain there to look for a job, could be between 60 and 120 days. Leaving the US during that period is not advisable for applicants, says Sudhir Shah, a Mumbaibased immigration lawyer. "The economic situation has become more uncertain now due to coronavirus. It may get tougher for students to find employment after their course."

Early this week, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and 150 other US universities said they were moving all undergraduate and graduate classes online for the time being. Several institutes have asked students to vacate the campuses until further notice. Suddenly, students, especially those who have taken loans and work part-time on campus to sustain themselves, have been left in the cold. They would have to find accommodation outside campuses, which can be expensive, to stay back in the US or return to their home country.

"US colleges, especially those in areas with many cases of coronavirus patients, are looking to reduce the campus population," says Adarsh Khandelwal, cofounder and director of overseas education consultancy Collegify.

News articles in the US have reported stories of even low-income American students facing financial and other troubles because of a sudden shutdown that is forcing them to go back home. Some colleges have offered to accommodate students who cannot travel back home at such short notice.

Many colleges and communities have set up helpline desks for international students who do not have family or friends to stay with in the US. Despite these measures, students and parents have been rattled by the situation.

"We have been told that campus will remain open," says an undergraduate student from India at UCLA who doesn't want to be named. "But only the barest of resources, like dining, would be available. A lot of students and their parents are panicking." The undergrad student has moved into a relative's place for now.

"Students are confused about whether they should come back to India or stay back in the US," says V Anandkumar, an IT professional in Bengaluru whose daughter is an undergraduate student at the UCLA.

"My daughter has gone to her friend's place in the US till the end of the semester. After that, she will head to my sister's place in Silicon Valley. But not everyone has family in the US and many Indian students are being forced to head home.

UCLA is among the universities that have shifted classes and exams online.

Students who have chosen US universities known for prestigious classroom learning experience are not appreciative of shifting to an online mode.

"Classroom learning is an immersive experience, especially for soft-skills courses such as leadership, which benefit from group work or classes based on case discussions," says Aditi Chadha, who is enrolled into MIT's prestigious Sloan MBA programme.

"It is hard to do that online, and to electronically raise your hand each time on a software." And what about campus events for recruitment and networking that have been cancelled or maybe streamed online? The online mode would not be as compelling as the real one when it comes to networking and interviews, says Chadha, who cofounded DAZL, a tech startup in Gurgaon that created a wearable device with SOS alerts targetted at women, before going to the US for the MBA.

For those who opt to return, Khandelwal says the time difference between the US and India and internet connectivity issues could pose problems for virtual classes.

Thousands of Indian students in the US and their parents share similar concerns. The parents were reluctant to mention their children's names because of the uncertainty regarding visa and job prospects.

There is, however, some hope for students on F1 visas, which mandate a certain number of class-hours on campuses. The USCIS said it would make accommodation for such candidates. "Students on F1 visas should be able to maintain their status even if the programme goes online and they leave the campus as long as the university makes the notification to USCIS within 10 days," says Cyrus Mehta, an immigration lawyer in New York.

If the pandemic situation worsens and schools have to completely shut down and students have to come back to India, he says, USCIS may still allow them to keep the F1 status. Such steps have been taken in the past, such as after the attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001.

For now, the atmosphere of uncertainty continues to haunt the thousands of Indian students spread across US campuses and their parents in India.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...s-shut-down/articleshow/74629998.cms?from=mdr
 
Schools are closed over here.

My brother is a university student and he is now studying 100% online. In-person classes are suspended.
 
MenInG said:
How will the exams happen?
Click to expand...

Open book exam is one possibility.

Another possibility is protracted grade. It basically means that your final mark is based on how you did during regular classes (assignments, tests etc.).

I have had protracted grade once before. It didn't damage me much.
 
MenInG said:
How will the exams happen?
Click to expand...

sweep_shot said:
Open book exam is one possibility.

Another possibility is protracted grade. It basically means that your final mark is based on how you did during regular classes (assignments, tests etc.).

I have had protracted grade once before. It didn't damage me much.
Click to expand...

Sorry. I meant pro-rated grade (not protracted).

Here's one example: http://web1.nbed.nb.ca/sites/ASD-W/FrederictonHigh/Other/Documents/Pro-rating.pdf.
 
I'm in a university which has been shut down for the past couple of weeks and will remain shut until 30th May.

Online classes started yesterday and have been a disaster thus far. Our midterms will now be assignment based instead of an exam.
 
For UK based A Level students, there is talk of using predicted grades to get University Admissions.

The problem is that exams are still scheduled for overseas students using Cambridge etc boards - so you could have portion of people in UK unis next year coming in with predicted grades and rest who have done exams - bit unfair?

All very confusing.
 
Complete rubbish - there is no way I can study in my house with libraries closed and I think exams are proctard by webcam so nothing good for me
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Bigboii said:
Complete rubbish - there is no way I can study in my house with libraries closed and I think exams are proctard by webcam so nothing good for me
Click to expand...

Almost feel if 2020 should be declared a universal gap year!
 
Mayhem in the world of academia!

I feel for the students who had been studying for exams etc

Schools cancelling UK Board exams and teachers will decide grades - which will be used by Unis for admissions in the UK.
 
MenInG said:
Mayhem in the world of academia!

I feel for the students who had been studying for exams etc

Schools cancelling UK Board exams and teachers will decide grades - which will be used by Unis for admissions in the UK.
Click to expand...

And university admissions done by predicted grades? How will good unis work out which students are actually good? Will there be pre-entrance exams?
 
MenInG said:
How will the exams happen?
Click to expand...

Exams are being done online for almost all university at this point. Usually, they make a test bank, and will give you multiple questions type of exam at this point. Each person gets a different set of generated questions from the test bank. So if you and I meet up to do our exam, we will most likely end up with different set of questions (maybe couple will be the same). Atleast that's how it worked in my university and other university in canada.
 
School closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic are now affecting 87% of the global school population, says Unesco.

The UN’s education agency says 1.5 billion children are missing school in 165 countries.

“Never before have we witnessed educational disruption on such a scale,” says Unesco’s director general, Audrey Azoulay.

Many children are relying on distance learning to continue their education – which is more difficult for deprived families and in countries with less access to technology.

In response, Unesco is launching a “global education coalition” of international organisations and private businesses to keep children learning.

Google and Microsoft are among the firms taking part, alongside the World Health Organisation, the OECD and Unicef.

There are particular concerns about the wealth gap, with the poorest children most likely to lose out from the school closures and the reliance on online technology.

Unesco says it will develop “hi-tech, low-tech and no-tech” responses to support those currently excluded from school.
 
This break is heartbreaking for students - without good learning plans - there is a good chance that they will lose their work ethic.
 
I know that pain, I was one of the victim of 2008-2010 global crisis.
I completed my Masters in 2009/10 couldn't find the job immediately. Everywhere lay offs ,firings, and no openings for freshers.
I was in depression, even I couldn't able to pay hostel expenses. Thatt took time to recover

Present scenario effect severely on students.
 
University exams in Australia will not go ahead for the current semester ending in June.
"Alternative online assessment" will replace them.
 
I'm in grade 12, supposed to go to uni in September. So far we don't have any online classes. I fear that I may not learn everything I need for university, and have the prerequisite knowledge, which'll make my university studies a lot harder.
 
The UK's National Union of Students (NUS) wants compulsory exams for all final-year students to be scrapped because of coronavirus.
The NUS is calling for universities to give final-year students a series of options including opting out of exams and settling for a grade based on attainment so far; "open-book" exams done at home; and deferring the term at no extra cost.

It also wants thousands of first- and second-year exams cancelled completely.

The NUS vice-president for higher education, Claire Sosienski-Smith, said students were struggling with stress and anxiety, and it was "vital that no student is disadvantaged" by the pandemic.
 
French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer has been outlining the way national school exams will be reorganised this year in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

"So we have ruled out a mixed solution: one or two exams, and validate the rest through continuous assessment. All the tests of the [middle-school] brevet and [high-school] bac exams will be validated via continuous assessment," he said in a televised address.

Some 2.1 million pupils are due to take the exams this year, he added. French schools and universities have been closed for about a month.

As school and colleges around Europe remain closed, there have been mounting concerns about the impact on exams.
 
Teachers in England will be asked to decide the grades they think pupils would have achieved in cancelled GCSE and A-level exams.

This will be used by exam boards to award results - along with a ranking order by ability of each pupil in a school, also to be sent in by teachers, by 29 May.

The grades could be changed if schools seem too generous or harsh, and to make the overall distribution of grades consistent with other years.

All exams have been cancelled because of the coronavirus crisis.

Students who are unhappy with their grades will have the chance to sit the exams as soon as reasonably possible after schools reopen - or in the summer of 2021.
 
Asked whether schools could reopen before the summer holidays, MoD chief scientific adviser Angela McLean says it would be "premature" to say whether this will be possible.

She adds a "longer run" of infections data will be needed to see when schools can reopen, adding "so much depends" on the trends.

NHS England’s medical director Stephen Powis says there are the "first signs of a plateauing" in the infections data.

He notes however this is "not the time to become complacent", noting that without social distancing measures cases would otherwise be "steeply rising" on an "exponential curve".
 
New York City’s public schools will remain closed through the end of the academic year, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Saturday, confirming a disastrous scenario that he had previously warned of: More than three months of regular schooling for 1.1 million children will be lost because of the ferocious spread of the coronavirus.

Roughly 1,800 schools across the city’s five boroughs have scrambled to adjust to remote learning since they were initially closed on March 16, a sudden shift that has presented educators with perhaps the largest challenge of their careers and turned well over 1 million parents into part-time teachers.

The first few weeks of online learning have already transformed the relationship between the city’s students, parents, and educators, who have come to rely on each other in ways unfathomable even a month ago.

Mr. de Blasio faced enormous pressure from parents and teachers to close the schools as the virus began its spread through New York City in March. After initially resisting, the mayor ultimately shut the system and said, “This is not something in a million years I could have imagined having to do.”

Though New York City is the epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak, more than a dozen states and many more local school districts have already announced that their public schools will remain closed through the end of the school year.

In recent days, the governors of California, Pennsylvania and Washington announced schools in their states would be closed for the rest of the academic year.

New York City’s public school system, the largest in the country, is highly segregated by race and socio-economic status, and remote learning has revealed new depths of inequality.

Many students do not have internet access or laptops at home, and the city rushed to lend thousands of devices to children who needed them. About three-quarters of the city’s public school children are in low-income households and qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, prompting the city to leave some school buildings open for families to pick up meals in the morning, as well as for other struggling New Yorkers to get food in the afternoon.

The city is also home to about 114,000 homeless students, who have had to adapt to remote learning in shelters and cramped homes where they might share a single room with five other family members.

New York also has about 200,000 students with disabilities — or roughly as many total students in some cities’ public school systems. Now, scores of service providers are experimenting with ways to deliver complex physical and occupational therapies remotely.

Despite these efforts, many children with advanced special needs will fall behind academically and socially. Some students with disabilities are in school 12 months per year, but it is not yet clear whether those students will be able to return to school even during the summer.

While New York City’s education leaders have insisted on continuing remote learning even as other districts have stopped classes altogether, no one has argued that online education is an equal substitute for attending a physical school.

The loss of learning and social interaction brought on by the months of school closures are incalculable, and the full consequences of the shutdown will never be completely known. But the virus has already changed the school system even beyond the mass closures: The economic crisis created by the pandemic has led to significant budget cuts for schools.

The city has cut funding for school budgets as well as some professional development for educators, after-school programs, and the expansion of prekindergarten for 3-year-olds. Some activists were particularly alarmed that the city cut funding for its summer youth employment program, which matches thousands of low-income students with jobs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/nyregion/nyc-schools-closed.html
 
Gavin Williamson said there were currently no plans for UK schools to open over the summer period!
 
I suppose it once again depends on whether you have money or not. One of my cousins kids are doing online lessons as they go to a private school with high fees and of course get preferential treatment.
 
Coronavirus: Working-class children less likely to take part in lockdown school lessons

Disadvantaged pupils are at risk of falling behind because they are not able to learn online from home, new figures suggest.

Schools were closed a month ago in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus in the UK, leaving students to continue lessons outside the classroom.

But headteachers have told Sky News that, in some schools, 40% of pupils do not have a home computer. Many have no internet access or phone either. Others have home circumstances that make learning difficult.

They are concerned that the most disadvantaged pupils - who already fall behind their peers - will see the gap widen if schools remain closed for weeks or months.

New figures from the Sutton Trust found that only 23% of pupils took part in live or recorded lessons online every day during the first week of the lockdown.

And - with more resources at home - 44% of better-off pupils were spending more than four hours a day learning. This compared with just 33% for those in working-class families.

Children in working-class homes were 25% less likely to have spoken to a teacher while at home.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...ing-class-pupils-11975696?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter
 
UK could allow primary schools to reopen as soon as June 1: Telegraph

The United Kingdom could allow primary schools in England and Wales to reopen as soon as June 1 under plans being discussed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Telegraph newspaper reported.

Johnson is expected to unveil the government’s “roadmap” out of the coronavirus lockdown in an address to the nation next Sunday, the newspaper said.

The Sunday Times said that the government will only tweak the lockdown this week, encouraging building sites to reopen, relaxing rules on outdoor activities and urging people to cover their faces on public transport.

Johnson is due next week to present a possible way out of the lockdown to get the world’s fifth largest economy back to work without triggering a second spike in coronavirus cases.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...pen-as-soon-as-june-1-telegraph-idUSKBN22E0TP
 
South Korean students to go back to school

South Korea said it will reopen schools in stages starting from May 13, as the daily number of domestic cases has fallen close to zero over recent days.

But health authorities urged vigilance once some 5.5 million elementary, middle and high school students gather in classrooms and they are conducting mock drills and preparing guidelines in the event of any upsurge in infection.

"We're now preparing for the opening of schools while managing the daily risks of the disease," Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said told a televised briefing.

"If a student turns out to be infected with the virus, health authorities will take the necessary action and the school will switch to online classes."
 
Universities are currently intending to run their planned courses in the autumn, but what is not clear is whether they will be teaching online with no students on campus, or whether students will be back and being taught face-to-face. Or else it could be a mixture of both - with some online teaching and some in person.

Students in university library

There are still more questions than answers on this, such as how student accommodation might work if social distancing is in place, whether there would be any freshers’ week events or whether there will be reductions in tuition fees if courses are taught online for a term.

But there has been a change in the application timetable, so that people applying for places do not have to make a firm choice until 18 June. There might be more information to help with a decision by then.
 
Parents of a student in Washington DC have filed a class-action lawsuit against George Washington University, one of the priciest private universities in the country, alleging that the closure of the campus merits a refund.

“Despite sending students home and closing its campuses, Defendant continues to charge for tuition and fees as if nothing has changed, continuing to reap the financial benefit of millions of dollars from students,” the complaint states.

The father of the female student adds that he's observed a decline in "academic rigour" since virtual learning began from home.

The lawsuit follows similar complaints at Boston University, Brown University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago.
 
ISLAMABAD: Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood on Thursday announced the cancellation of all board exams across the country as part of measures to contain the spread of COVID-I9, ARY News reported.

Speaking after the National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting in Islamabad, he said that it has been agreed in the meeting that all educational institutions across the country will remain closed till July 15.

“All board exams have been cancelled and students of class 9th, 10th, 11, and 12 will be promoted for the next grade on the basis of results obtained in the previous class,” he added.

Giving an example, he said a student can get admission in a university on the basis of his 11th class result.

He said the decision has been taken on the consensus of all provinces and added that students will be able to enroll in the next class as soon as the school reopens.

It is pertinent to mention here that on March 13, amid rising cases of a novel coronavirus in the country, the federal cabinet announced the closure of all the public and private educational institutes across Pakistan.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the government has decided to lift the lockdown in phases starting from Saturday.

Briefing the nation about decisions made during today’s meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC), he said the decision to lift lockdown has been taken to mitigate the suffering of people.

“The decision has been made due to the suffering of our people,” the premier explained

https://arynews.tv/en/board-exams-cancelled-shafqat-mehmood/
 
A list of key measures must be met before pupils in England can safely return to their desks, teaching unions have told the government.

It includes extra money for deep cleaning and personal protective equipment (PPE) and local powers to close schools if clusters of coronavirus infections break out in a particular area.

Schools must also not reopen until a UK-wide rollout of a track-and-trace scheme that would help pinpoint those who need to be in quarantine is under way. A contact-tracing phone app is currently in its early stages of being trialled on the Isle of Wight.

The joint statement was sent to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson by bodies including the National Association of Head Teachers and the National Education Union.

Published by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), it called for "clear scientific published evidence that trends in transmission of COVID-19 will not be adversely impacted by the reopening phase and that schools are also safe to reopen".

The tests that the school workforce unions said were "essential" to have in place before pupils return include:

Safety and welfare of pupils and staff as the paramount principle
No increase in pupil numbers until full rollout of a national test-and-trace scheme
A national COVID-19 education taskforce with government, unions and education stakeholders to agree statutory guidance for safe reopening
Consideration of the specific needs of vulnerable students and families facing financial hardship
Additional resources for enhanced school cleaning, PPE and risk assessments
Local autonomy to close schools where testing indicates clusters of new COVID-19 cases

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Parents and staff need full confidence that schools will be safe before any pupils return.

"The government must work closely with unions to agree a plan that meets the tests we have set out.

"Those discussions must include unions representing all school workers, not just teachers."

The statement is backed by the main teaching unions as well as Unite, GMB and Unison, representing key school staff such as cleaners, administrators and caterers.

Labour's shadow education secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey called on the government to "take heed of the tests set out today by trade unions and commit to not opening schools unless they have been met".

She added: "Schools should not open until it is safe to do so and the government must commit to work with trade unions and others to agree a set of principles and tests to put safety systems in place in advance of any planned reopening."

Last week at the Downing Street daily news conference, NHS England's national medical director Professor Stephen Powis said the "science is still evolving" on how much children contribute toward virus spread.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has vowed the government would only allow pupils to return when it was safe to do so.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...e-goes-national-school-unions-insist-11985520
 
French parents anguish over sending children back to school

As France prepares to start letting public life resume after eight weeks under a coronavirus lockdown, many parents are deeply torn over a question without a clear or correct answer: Should I send my child back to school?

The French government is easing some of the closure and home-confinement orders it imposed on March 17 to curb infections, with businesses permitted to reopen, residents cleared to return to workplaces and schools welcoming some students again starting Monday.

Due to the slow startup, as well as ongoing fears about Covid-19 in hard-hit France, school attendance will not be compulsory right away. Parents and guardians may keep children at home and teachers will provide lessons like they have during the nationwide lockdown.
 
The PM says he believes the first stage of “going further” will be to the phased reopening of shops and to get primary pupils back into schools.

He says school returns will be done in stages, beginning with reception, Year 1 and Year 6.

But he warns the earliest this could happen is 1 June, after half-term.

He adds: “Our ambition is that secondary pupils facing exams next year will get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays.

“And we will shortly be setting out detailed guidance on how to make it work in schools and shops and on transport.”
 
This pandemic is going to really screw over students grades. Predicted grades can be deceiving as they could be based on mock exams, which are not always taken seriously by students. This will also screw up the timeline, if students choose to retake.
 
There is an "ambition" for all primary school children in England to spend a month back at school before the summer holidays, says the government's updated Covid-19 guidance .

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already announced that primary schools could reopen for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6, from 1 June "at the earliest".

The National Education Union has rejected the plans as "reckless".

Parents who choose to keep their children at home will not face fines.

Mr Johnson's televised address on Sunday said if the level of infection remained low enough, some year groups might begin to return to primary school after 1 June.

Further details show an intention to widen this to all primary year groups, including early years - but this is with strong warnings of delays if "insufficient progress is made in tackling the virus".

The decision to make Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 the first classes to return was "to ensure that the youngest children, and those preparing for the transition to secondary school, have maximum time with their teachers".

More information is expected from the Department for Education but head teachers have warned that social distancing would make it impossible for all pupils to be in school at the same time, which could mean classes coming to school in rotation or attending part time.

What's happening in secondary school?
Secondary schools and further education colleges are likely to stay closed until September - apart from pupils with exams next year, who will get more help in addition to their current online lessons.

Schools and colleges are told to "prepare to begin some face-to-face contact with Year 10 and 12 pupils who have key exams next year".

But Shadow Education Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said the government needed to address teachers' "concerns, anxiety and confusion".

"There is no information about how social distancing will work in schools, how teaching and support staff, pupils and parents will be protected from the virus, how small class sizes will be achieved."

Will parents be fined if they don't send their children to school?
More than 400,000 people have signed an online petition urging the government to give parents a choice on whether they send their children back to school this term.

But it is understood that parents who decide to keep their children at home will not face fines for non-attendance.

At present, parents who are key workers have the option of sending their children to school, but there are no penalties for those who have not taken up places.

This temporary arrangement during the coronavirus crisis will also continue for the year groups going back to school.

"As a mum, I don't want to face serious repercussions for making a choice I feel affects the safety of my daughter during a global pandemic," said petition organiser, Lucy Brown.

How many are likely to go back?
When schools were kept open for key workers' children, there were worries that too many would turn up. But in practice the opposite happened, with lower numbers than anticipated.

The latest guidance says 2% of pupils are currently going to school - and with no fines and lessons likely to be complicated by social distancing, it remains to be seen how many children will return.

But it will give more parents an option for going back to work - and children might be relieved to get out and see their friends again.

What are the teachers' unions saying?
The biggest teachers' union, the National Education Union, says it is advising its school leader members "that we are in no position to start planning for wider opening yet".

"This timetable is reckless. This timetable is simply not safe," says Mary Bousted, the union's co-leader.

She said the reopening plans had "stoked teachers' anxiety and triggered real confusion because the announcement is inconsistent on the importance of social distancing and how or whether it can be achieved in schools".

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders' union NAHT, said the ambition to return all primary pupils within the next seven weeks was "wildly optimistic, to the point of being irresponsible".

"School leaders do not want to see classrooms empty for a day longer than they need be - but there is not a school leader in the land who wants to risk admitting more pupils unless it is safe to do so."

Teachers' unions have raised doubts about how realistic it is to expect social distancing among young children.

What do parents think?
Many parents on the BBC's Family and Education Facebook page expressed concerns over safety if school re-open next month.

Kirsty Smith said: "I have a Reception-aged child and then three others in years that aren't going back.

"First thing my youngest will want to do is give her teacher and friends a hug - she's five,

"Telling a child 'no this no that' is going to make them think they're constantly doing wrong by doing things that are natural to them.

"They may split the classes and stagger lunch times but they won't be able to sanitise every pencil, toy, lunch table even before the next child uses it."

Gurmeet Bhachu added: "No, my child is not going back to school until it is absolutely safe for them and teachers."

Louise Richards said: "Many children are in families with at risk members. They can't go back. It will simply disadvantage those and put the rest at risk."

Suzanne Mattinson said she would not send her child back to school until there was a vaccine,

"If my hand is forced, I'll remove him formally and home school."

What's happening elsewhere in the UK?
In Wales, the First Minister Mark Drakeford has already ruled out following the same timetable as England.

"We're not going to be reopening schools in Wales in the next three weeks, or indeed in June," he said.

In Scotland, the government has warned that fully reopening primary schools ran the risk of "overwhelming" the NHS .

In Northern Ireland, Education Minister Peter Weir has spoken of a possible phased return of schools in September .

https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/education-52618187?__twitter_impression=true
 
Health authorities in Norway have said opening up nurseries and primary schools has not rekindled the country’s coronavirus epidemic, AFP reports.

Norway was among the first countries in Europe to open up nursery schools on 20 April, followed by schools for pupils between ages six and 10 the following week.

The reopening of the schools, which had been closed on 12 March, was initially met with concern among parents. But fears appear to have been unfounded.

“We have so far not seen that opening nurseries and schools have had a negative effect on the infection situation,” Frode Forland, a senior official from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, told a daily press briefing.

“If the opening would have had a negative effect, we would have begun to see that in an increased number of infections..

The same seemed to be true for hair salons, physiotherapists, as well as some other healthcare-related professions that have been allowed to operate since 27 April, according to Forland.

The rest of the country’s primary schools, high schools and colleges are due to reopen later in the week.

As of Monday, Norway had confirmed 8,106 cases of coronavirus, and 224 people had died in the country of 5.4 million people.
 
French primary pupils trickle back to class after eight-week lockdown

Across France, primary school pupils sat at least a metre apart in small classes and listened to teachers in masks on their first day back after two months of home-schooling during the coronavirus lockdown, Reuters reports.

The lessons, though, did not cover maths or grammar, but hygiene amid a public health emergency: wash your hands, don’t touch your face and keep away from each other.

That was the new reality as some 1.5 million elementary and primary pupils — roughly one in every four — returned to class as France tentatively emerges from lockdown.
 
California cancels fall university classes

California's state university system, the largest in the United States, canceled classes for the fall semester because of the coronavirus, while Los Angeles County said its stay-at-home order was likely to be extended by three months.

In one of the first indications the pandemic will continue to have a significant impact into autumn, the chancellor of California State University said classes at its 23 campuses would be canceled for the semester that begins in September, with instruction moved online.

"Our university, when open without restrictions and fully in person, as is the traditional norm of the past, is a place where over 500,000 people come together in close and vibrant proximity with each other on a daily basis," the chancellor, Timothy White, said in a statement.

"That approach, sadly, just isn’t in the cards now."
 
California moving university classes online as Fauci warns of reopening too soon

California’s state university system, the largest in the United States, on Tuesday canceled classes on campus for the fall semester and moved instruction online because of the coronavirus, while Los Angeles County said its stay-at-home order was likely to be extended by three months.

The announcements on the West Coast came after the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told Congress that lifting the sweeping lockdowns could touch off new outbreaks of the illness, which has killed nearly 81,000 Americans and devastated the economy.

In one of the first indications the pandemic will continue to have a significant impact into autumn, the chancellor of California State University said classes at its 23 campuses would be canceled for the semester that begins in September, with instruction moved online.

“Our university, when open without restrictions and fully in person, as is the traditional norm of the past, is a place where over 500,000 people come together in close and vibrant proximity with each other on a daily basis,” the chancellor, Timothy White, said in a statement.

“That approach, sadly, just isn’t in the cards now.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...uci-warns-of-reopening-too-soon-idUSKBN22P2T7
 
The Viper said:
California moving university classes online as Fauci warns of reopening too soon

California’s state university system, the largest in the United States, on Tuesday canceled classes on campus for the fall semester and moved instruction online because of the coronavirus, while Los Angeles County said its stay-at-home order was likely to be extended by three months.

The announcements on the West Coast came after the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told Congress that lifting the sweeping lockdowns could touch off new outbreaks of the illness, which has killed nearly 81,000 Americans and devastated the economy.

In one of the first indications the pandemic will continue to have a significant impact into autumn, the chancellor of California State University said classes at its 23 campuses would be canceled for the semester that begins in September, with instruction moved online.

“Our university, when open without restrictions and fully in person, as is the traditional norm of the past, is a place where over 500,000 people come together in close and vibrant proximity with each other on a daily basis,” the chancellor, Timothy White, said in a statement.

“That approach, sadly, just isn’t in the cards now.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...uci-warns-of-reopening-too-soon-idUSKBN22P2T7
Click to expand...

No, No, No don't do it new York I know you want to but don't follow suit Please I beg you Como :)
 
No exams for inter, matric students: Saeed Ghani

Sindh education Saeed Ghani has announced that there will be no examinations for inter and matric students due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement, the education minister said that board examinations will also not take place.

"We will introduce an amendment to existing laws to promote students to the next grade," he said adding that the decisions have been taken by the provincial steering committee on education.

"We will collect students' data so that children can be promoted and do not face difficulties in securing college admissions."
 
In the US, as uncertainty about the spread of Covid-19 continues, the biggest university system in the United States decided this week to make fall term classes virtual, one of the first to do so, amid fears of a second wave of infections in the month ahead.

California State University said almost all classes across its 23 university campuses would be online at least until the end of the fall term. Programs such as the maritime academy, which holds classes aboard a training ship, may be among a handful of exceptions. The Cal State university system serves 482,000 students.

“As the largest four-year system of higher education in the country, while the spotlight is on us in terms of the decision, we weren’t hoping to influence anyone,” said Cal State spokesperson Mike Uhlenkamp.

“This is a decision that the chancellor and the campus presidents arrived at that we feel is in the best interests of our students and our employees.”

Colleges and universities across the United States are grappling with similar decisions. But it was the timing of Cal State’s announcement that came to some as a surprise. Other colleges and universities have said their decisions would come later in the summer.
 
No plans to start new school year in August

Today's government briefing has come to an end, with an emphasis from Education Secretary Gavin Williamson that the government remains committed to a phased reopening of schools in early June - providing the five tests are met and transmission rates remain low.

It means many pupils will remain at home until September, with only a limited return for certain school years being considered.

Nonetheless, Mr Williamson said there are currently no plans to start the new school year in early August.

He said: "We are looking at different initiatives that we could maybe look at rolling out during the summer period", but added he would not divulge more information on those initiatives yet, as there was "a little bit more work to do on them".
 
UK Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has said he is "confident that children and teachers will be safe" when returning to schools in England adding that the reopening would be “staged and careful”.

"Children will have to be distanced," he said on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show. "We can do that by making sure we have staggered lunch breaks and staggered arrivals."

Asked if he could guarantee that no teacher would get the virus, he replied: "There is always, always, always a risk of people catching the coronavirus - the key thing is we can make these workplaces safe."

He also said it was "extremely unlikely that any school will be a source of a [Covid-19] outbreak" and suggested that councils that were worried should "broaden the range of scientific advice" they were looking at.

"Children only have one chance on education - if you really care about children you will want them to be in school."
 
UK wants to work with teachers to restart schools from June 1

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government wants to work with teachers and trade unions to help some students return to schools from June 1, the British leader's spokesman has said.

Some teachers have criticised the government for moving too quickly to return some students to schools, part of concerns in the UK that the country is not ready even for the tentative easing of rules.

"We continue to want to work with teachers, head teachers and the unions in order to find a way to have a controlled and careful return of some year groups from June 1 at the earliest," the spokesman told reporters.
 
My summer classes are online and most likely my fall classes will be too
 
South Africa is also easing its lockdown measures, resume classes for some pupils on 1 June.

Those in grades seven and 12, usually aged 13 and 18, will return to class and the country’s minister of basic education Angie Motshekga said that, under strict social distancing rules, other grades would be able to attend lessons in schools with fewer than 150 pupils. Larger schools will open for other grades at a later date.
 
Markets and malls across Pakistan are open for business and brimming with people, but schools and colleges remain deserted and show no signs of reopening soon.

The boom in commercial activity has come as the country disregards surging coronavirus cases to push forward with plans to ease lockdown measures.

Intercity travel, including domestic flights, is also picking up pace ahead of Eidul Fitr, which marks the end of Ramazan.

Critics have denounced this return to normalcy as hasty and inadvisable, particularly since the country has recorded more than 1,000 cases every day in May, with just a single exception.

However, while commercial activity is resuming across the country, there is still little clarity on the future of academic activity, as doubts continue to swirl over an expected resumption by mid-July.

Government officials and education experts fear that schools may not reopen for another six months, particularly in remote areas where safety guidelines, hygiene and social distancing rules, are hard to implement.

“It's a challenging task for the government to reopen schools and colleges during this coronavirus pandemic, but the pressure is increasing every day,” Professor Mugheesuddin Sheikh, a Lahore-based educationist told Anadolu Agency.

“We never anticipated anything like this; it's more than a war-like situation. Is our education system equipped to deal with this [crisis]? The answer is no," he added.

Across the country, high school students have been promoted to the next classes without taking regular examinations and admissions to colleges will be granted on the basis of the previous year's results.

While many universities and schools have started online classes, a majority of educational institutions in Pakistan do not have the system for distance learning, according to Sheikh.

“Only a few universities have proper virtual education facilities. Others are partially equipped. Many teachers are not even trained,” said Sheikh, who heads the media and communication department at a university in Lahore.

No definite timeline
Sindh Minister for Education Saeed Ghani said schools could remain closed for up to six months due to the risk of coronavirus spreading among children.

“We cannot take such a risk in the current circumstances. It [reopening of schools] totally depends on the pace of the epidemic. I am not in a position to say if schools will reopen [even] on July 15,” Ghani told Anadolu Agency.

“As of today, I can say there are no chances of schools reopening soon. It may be a month or two, or even six.

“Our adults are not following necessary precautions, so how can you expect that from children?” he said, referring to the huge number of shoppers seen in markets and shopping centres over recent days, many not following any safety measures.

Ghani said his province’s education department was already preparing an online curriculum, and working on other models to ensure children's education could continue during these uncertain times.

Partially endorsing Ghani’s view, Sheikh said, "In the given circumstances, schools being closed until September-October is understandable. But if it goes beyond that, then next year's session and examinations will be affected too.”

Health experts have also cautioned against reopening schools too quickly.

“It will be a very risky and dangerous step if schools are opened at this stage. We strongly oppose this,” Dr Qaisar Sajjad, secretary general of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), told Anadolu Agency.

"We have a limited number of children’s hospitals in Pakistan. If, God forbid, there is an outbreak among children, we won't be able to handle it. There really is no justification to immediately reopen schools," he said.

However, Haider Ali, chairman of the Private Schools and Colleges Association, does not agree with the decision to keep schools closed, contending that children at home or in the streets were at higher risk.

“The risk factor doubles if children stay out of schools for a longer period. On one hand, they are vulnerable to depression and anxiety due to being confined to their houses, while on the other, they will lag behind in their studies,” he said.

“The situation is worse in slums and rural areas, where children are playing in the streets but not going to school. Schools, at least, have a controlled atmosphere and can implement safety guidelines," Ali said.

Alternatives needed
Professor Anwar Ahmed Zai, an educationist who heads a private examination board in Karachi, said the government and educational institutions have to devise creative ways to dilute the impact of Covid-19 on education.

“Things will not be the same, whether it's the economy or the education system. We have to reshape our education system and come up with some alternatives to bear the impact of the pandemic,” Zai told Anadolu Agency.

Apart from virtual education, he suggested that schools could operate in shifts of lesser duration to ensure social distancing.

“It will not be an ideal situation but we have to explore our options. We have to live with this virus for at least the coming few years,” said Zai.

Sharing a similar view, Sheikh suggested the formation of a “capsule curriculum” together with a shift-based system.

“Apart from the obvious miseries, this pandemic also presents some opportunities for developing countries like ours. We have a chance to rethink and reshape our education system to meet the needs of the post-pandemic world,” he said.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1558305/coronavirus-pandemic-leaves-education-in-limbo-in-pakistan
 
There will be no face-to-face lectures at the University of Cambridge over the course of the next academic year because of the coronavirus, the university has announced.

Lectures will be available to students online and "it may be possible to host smaller teaching groups in person" if they meet social distancing requirements, the university said.

It follows a similar move by the University of Manchester, which said its lectures would be online-only for the next term.

University campuses across the country have been closed by the Covid-19 outbreak. Earlier this week, the university watchdog said students applying for university places in England must be told with "absolute clarity" how courses will be taught - before they make choices for the autumn.
 
UK universities facing £760m hit

British universities face a potential £760m blow to their funding after about one in five students said they would not enrol in the next academic year if classes were delivered online and other activities curtailed. A survey of students applying for undergraduate places found that more than 20% said they were willing to delay starting their courses if universities were not operating as normal due to the coronavirus pandemic, which would mean there would be 120,000 fewer students when the academic year begins in autumn. A number of universities including Cambridge have said they will conduct all lectures online throughout the 2020-21 academic year.
 
Summer school in New York state will be online: Governor

Summer school in New York will be conducted remotely, Gov Andrew Cuomo said Thursday, citing the risks of returning children to the classroom, AP reports.

The governor said it's too early to make a decision about the fall semester. School buildings in New York have been closed since March.

"Schools obviously pose risks. They're places of gathering. They're on buses. They're in classrooms," Cuomo said at his daily briefing. “How do you reduce density in a classroom? How do you reduce density in a cafeteria, on a school bus, et cetera? How do you get children to wear masks?"
 
Coronavirus: Some NI pupils to return to school in August

Some NI pupils will return to school in late August with a phased return for the remainder, Education Minister Peter Weir has said.

Mr Weir was speaking during a meeting of a Stormont committee on Thursday.

"Subject to medical guidance and safety, it would be my aim to see a phased reopening of schools," he said.

Schools in Northern Ireland have been closed since March during the coronavirus crisis.

Mr Weir said the reopening of schools would begin with "limited provision for key cohort years in August, followed by a phased provision for all pupils at the beginning of September".

"Key cohorts" included students preparing for exams, such as GCSEs and A-Levels, and students transitioning from primary to post-primary schools, Mr Weir later clarified.

"This will not be a return to school as it was prior to Covid, but rather a new normal reflective of social distancing and a medically safe regime," said Mr Weir.

"For all pupils it will involve a mixture of scheduled school attendance and learning at home.

"In line with the executive's strategy contingent upon medically sound advice and susceptibility of the transmission of the virus, consideration may be given to a return of younger cohorts.

Laptop scheme

Speaking at Thursday's executive press conference, Mr Weir announced a new Education Authority scheme to provide laptops for disadvantaged pupils to support their remote learning.

The Department of Education would buy more laptops if required, he added.

Mr Weir said as many as 400 vulnerable children were attending schools that were open only to provide care - a figure Mr Weir described as "small but increasing".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52759165
 
The Cambridge O’ and A’ Levels June 1 exams will not take place this year along with local board exams. Local FSc students are, however, being automatically promoted and granted grace marks. The CAIE has decided to treat students according to a different process.

Shahid Ashraf, the deputy country director for Cambridge Assessment International Education in Pakistan explained that they had a different system. An estimated 270,000 students sat the exams in Pakistan, according to 2018 numbers.

“We have drawn on our wealth of assessment expertise to develop this process of grading students,” he told SAMAA TV. “Working with schools we will be following a four-step process to provide each student with their grades. We believe it is the most valid, fair and effective approach in these unique circumstances.”

The CAIE is asking teachers to use evidence and professional judgement to predict grades for each student in each subject they have entered for in the May/June 2020 exam series, based on what the student would have achieved if normal teaching had gone ahead. “This is to ensure students are not disadvantaged,” said Ashraf. “The final decision on grades to be awarded to students will be made by Cambridge International, using the evidence from schools combined with our own evidence.”

The process has four steps:

Step 1. Centre determines a predicted grade for each candidate for each syllabus entered
Step 2. Centre determines a rank order of its candidates within each grade for each syllabus
Step 3. Head of centre confirms the predicted grades and rank orders, and centre sends them to Cambridge International
Step 4. Cambridge International carries out a standardisation process, combining data from the school with other data, and awards final grades.
He added that they have engaged with different entities worldwide to develop this approach, including other awarding bodies, governments and universities. “As such, we want to reassure our students that all qualifications awarded in the May/June 2020 series will carry the same currency as they have in any other year, enabling them to move forward with their future study and career plans.”

Cambridge International has also offered schools and students the option to defer their entry to the November 2020 exam series, if they would prefer to sit their exam as they had originally planned.

He added that it is not possible to compare a system that will provides marks to students, with Cambridge International’s approach which will be giving students a total grade for their qualification not individual marks for each exam they would have taken.

Ahmed Saya who teaches O’ and A’ level classes privately and is a co-owner of Córdoba College, Karachi, explained the policy like this: There will be evidence-based grading. Students will be graded on their tests, mock exams, performance throughout the year. The teacher with then grade them according to that. He added that students can opt for sitting exams in Oct/No and CAIE has transferred their exam fees of June to that session already.

Schools have given students options. A student at Foundation Public School said that they had a vote. Most students opted for sitting exams in the next session. So FPS, for example, will start with regular classes on Zoom from June 1. They will have their mocks online too.

Universities have also eased their admissions procedures. IBA’s minimum grade requirement is reported to be down to 3Cs, IoBM is said to have made A2 students eligible for admissions. They have also given the student an opportunity to reappear in Oct/Nov 2020.

These were the responses to other common questions:

What is the procedure for withdrawal of entries for May/June 2020 exams series?

British Council will send an email to all schools early next week outlining the detailed process of withdrawal.

Is it possible for a school to withdraw some subjects for a candidate?

Yes, partial withdrawals are possible.

Will British Council refund the fee for withdrawn entries?

The British Council will provide schools with a credit note that can be used for entries in any future Cambridge exams series. More details on this will be shared with schools shortly.

Can a school request that registrations from the May/June 2020 series be automatically transferred to the October/November 2020 series?

Unfortunately, our systems do not allow an automatic transfer from one exams series to another exams series. Schools will need to withdraw their entries and re-enter students for the next series.

What will be the deadline for re-registration for the October/November 2020 exams series?

The British Council will announce the exact registration timelines for October/November session in due course, but we expect it to be around August time as normal.
 
PM Johnson says plans on some pupils returning to primary school on June 1

Some pupils will return to primary school on June 1 as the government seeks to loosen lockdown measures imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.

“So we said we would begin (with) early years reception, year one and year six ... and today, I announce it is our intention to go ahead with that as planned, on June, 1,” Johnson told a news conference.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-h...o-primary-school-on-june-1-idUKKBN2300MW?il=0
 
While all the educational institutions have been closed till July 15 to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the Wafaq-ul-Madaris Al-Arabia Pakistan, the country’s largest religious education board, has hinted at resuming on-campus curriculum activities from June 12, The News reported on Friday.

The meeting, held on Thursday, also discussed starting the admission process for the new academic year from June 2.

The board, which belongs to the Deobandi school of thought, in its meeting also decided that an official announcement for the reopening of the seminaries would be made after a meeting of the Ittehad-e-Tanzeemate-Madaris Pakistan (ITMP).

However, the date of the ITMP’s meeting was not mentioned in the press statement issued by the board.

According to the board, in the first phase, religious scholars will highlight the importance of religious education in Friday sermons and will communicate their point of view to the leaders and representatives of private schools, political parties, tuition centres and business communities.

“Due to the discriminatory policies and dual standards, we are not demanding anything from the government. But recommendations for the reopening of the seminaries will be discussed with top religious scholars, leaders of the religious political parties, and administrators of seminaries,” the statement reads.

The meeting also raised questions over the reopening of the business activities, asking that if the government could allow markets to open, why authorities insisted on “us keeping the seminaries closed”.

“For the reopening of the seminaries, the scholars on the same pattern have developed SOPs which were earlier followed when the government allowed imams to open mosques,” it said.

The participants of the meeting said all the precautionary measures would be followed to avoid the spread of coronavirus, and students would be asked to follow SOPs.

‘Extension in lockdown disastrous for education’

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Jamia Binoria Al-Aalmia in a press statement said the institute would provide online admission applications on June 3, while the decision for the commencement of regular classes would be made after a decision was made by Wafaq-ul Madaris Al-Arabia Pakistan.

According to the spokesperson, in a meeting chaired by Mufti Muhammad Naeem, matters related to the new academic year and admissions were discussed.

On the occasion, Naeem said that by keeping the seminaries closed, the authorities were just wasting the precious time of students.

He demanded of the government to allow the reopening of the madrasas with the implementation of strict SOPs, which would be followed by the students and the teachers.

He said madrasas would start their academic year in June every year. “But this year, students are anxious about their admission and the completion of courses.” He said a further extension in the lockdown would be “more harmful than coronavirus” because the government has no alternative plan for education.

He said the countries which were still having a lockdown were providing relief and facilities to their citizens. He said the coronavirus pandemic had not affected Pakistanis as much it did to the citizens of other countries as they were “not following precautionary measures”. He said it was “very important to review policies and make the right decision”.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/290360-pa...-education-board-hints-at-resuming-activities
 
Two years ago, 29-year-old Raunaq Singh started working towards his dream of pursuing an MBA from one of the world's top business schools.

In January 2020, he was waitlisted by UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business in California, and was asked to send more information to bolster his case for admission.

"So, I quit my stable job of five years and started working with a mental wellness start-up as a consultant," Mr Singh says.

"I'm on a major pay cut because the purpose of joining this company wasn't to earn money, but to add value to my application."

Fortunately, he was accepted at Berkeley, and was due to start his course in September.

But then the world changed as Covid-19 spread, plunging the immediate future into uncertainty.

Mr Singh is one of hundreds of thousands of Indian students who were planning to study abroad. But now they are not quite sure what will happen given international travel restrictions, new social distancing norms and the sheer uncertainty of what the next few months will bring.

After China, India sends more students abroad to study than any other country - more than one million Indians were pursuing higher education programs overseas as of July 2019, according to India's foreign ministry.

Every year, in June and July, students flood visa centres and consulates to start the paperwork to travel and study abroad. But things look different this year.

"There's a lot of stress and anxiety and tension at this time but not enough clarity," says Meehika Barua, 23, who wants to study journalism in the UK.

"We don't know when international travel restrictions will be lifted or whether we'd be able to get our visas in time. We may also have to take classes online."

Some universities across the UK and the US are giving international students the option to defer their courses to the next semester or year, while others have mandated online classes until the situation improves.

The University of Cambridge recently announced that lectures will be online only until next year. Others, like Greenwich University, will have a mix of online and face-to-face approaches while its international students can defer to the next semester.

"It feels a little unfair, especially after spending a year-and-half to get admission in one of these schools," Mr Singh says. "Now, a part of the experience is compromised."

Like him, many others are disappointed at the prospect of virtual classes.

"The main reason we apply to these universities is to be able to get the experience of studying on campus or because we want to work in these countries. We want to absorb the culture there," Ms Barua says.

Studying abroad is also made more expensive by the fact that Indian and other international students will have to pay in dollars and pounds and not local currency. And then there's the additional cost of applications or standardised tests.

Virtual classes mean they don't have to pay for a visa, air tickets or living expenses. But many students are hesitant about spending their savings or borrowing money to pay for attending college in their living room.

Even if, months later, the situation improves to some extent, and students could travel abroad and enrol on campus, they say that brings its own challenges.

For one, Mr Singh points out, there is the steep cost of healthcare, and questions over access to it, as countries like the US are experiencing a deluge of infections and deaths.

And then there are the dimming job prospects. The pandemic has squeezed the global economy, so employers are less likely to hire, or sponsor visas for foreign workers.

"For international students, the roller coaster has been more intense because there is increased uncertainty about their ability to get jobs in the US after graduation, and for some, in their ability to get to the US at all," says Taya Carothers, who works in Northwestern University's international student office.

The idea of returning to India with an expensive degree and the looming unemployment is scaring students - especially since for many of them, the decision to study abroad is tied to a desire to find a well-paying job there.

"The risk we take when we leave our home country and move to another country - that risk has increased manifold," Mr Singh adds.

The current crisis - and its economic impact - has affected the decision of nearly half the Indians who wanted to study abroad, according to a recent report by the QS, a global education network.

Experts say universities are in a tough spot too.

International students add as much as $45bn (£37bn) a year to the American economy. In the UK, universities receive almost £7bn in fees from overseas students. So their finances will take a hit if too many foreign students rethink going abroad.

And logistics will also pose a challenge - colleges have to enforce social distancing across campuses, including dormitories, and accommodate students from multiple time zones in virtual classes.

"Regardless of how good your technology is, you're still going to face problems like internet issues," says Sadiq Basha, who heads a study abroad consultancy.

He adds that there might be a knee-jerk reaction as a large number of international students consider deferring their admission to 2021. But he's positive that "in the long term, the ambitions of Indian students are not going to go down."

Mr Singh is still waiting to see how things will unfold in the next few months, but he's almost certain he will enrol and start his first semester of the two-year program online.

"Since I've been preparing for over a year now, I think mentally I'm already there," he says.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52846214
 
KARACHI: Schools in Sindh will not reopen on June 1, according to a notification from the provincial education department on Friday.

The official notification said that the decision to close schools until June was taken earlier during the session of the Sindh Education Steering Committee on May 12.

"The steering committee decided to extend the closure of schools until June 1 [...] due to coronavirus," it said.

On May 12, Sindh education minister Saeed Ghani had said that schools may not reopen for another six months and a new online curriculum will soon be introduced.

He said that schools in Sindh will not reopen on June 1 and that a new date will be notified later.

Earlier, the minister also said that the board examinations for matriculation and intermediate students will not be held this year due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The provincial minister said that all the students will get an additional 3% marks at the time of promotion to the next grade.

“Our entire system of holding examinations and issuing results have been disturbed,” he said, adding that the new system has been introduced in the time of crisis.

Meanwhile, the federal government announced to close educational institutes until July 15, while cancelling board exams until the end of this year.
 
All students of Sindh from classes one to 11 will be passed and promoted to the next grade, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said.

“Each and every student will be given an extra 3% marks and will be promoted to the next grade,” he said in a media briefing on Sunday.

The minister said that even those students who had failed their classes will be passed via grace marks. This way, no student in the province will be failed or left behind.

“The students of classes 10 and 12 will be passed on the basis of their previous board results,” Ghani explained. “There has been a confusion regarding how students of classes nine and 11 will be graded.

“As we don’t have records of their previous results, these students will be passed without any percentages or marks,” he revealed, adding that next year when these students will give their exams for grade 10 and 12, their results for that year and the previous year will be considered to be the same. This means that for both classes, next year’s result will be considered.

Ghani pointed that those students who wanted to reappear for their exams to improve their grades can do so next year. “This term no special examinations will take place,” he said.

The fee paid for these exams will be carried forward to next year.

The minister added that these decisions were taken as the government did not know when it will reopen schools due to the situation created by the coronavirus pandemic.

On the other hand, the Private Schools Management Association has announced that they will reopen schools from June 15. The association’s Chairperson Sharful Zaman has demanded that the government either let them resume schools or pay their expenses until December.

“We will see how many people the government can arrest,” he said.

All Pakistan Private Schools Association Vice-Chairperson Tariq Shah emphasised that students were suffering a huge academic loss because of the closure.

“Now that everything has reopened, why not schools?” he questioned, adding that a list of SOPs was already being prepared.

The safety measures included dividing schools hours into three shifts to implement social distancing. A class will be divided into two sections. Sanitiser, masks and gloves will also be provided to students, Shah added.

The association has also announced that offices of all schools will be reopened from June 1 and teachers and staff will be called in for work.

https://www.samaa.tv/news/pakistan/2020/05/all-sindh-students-from-classes-1-to-11-being-promoted/
 
Most pupils in Slovakia due back in school on Monday

Most school pupils in Slovakia are heading back to school on Monday as the country's educational institutions reopen, after a lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Education Minister Branislav Grohling said between 70 and 80 percent of students will be back at primary school on Monday, Slovak news agency TASR reported.

At the same time, between 50 and 60 per cent of children who attend kindergartens are expected to return, Grohling told public broadcaster RTVS.

Regional differences are likely in terms of the numbers expected back in school, Grohling said.
 
The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, gives an update about school reopenings. Schools in the country had been told to open their doors today, only for the education ministry to back down at the last minute as teachers’ unions, school staff and governing associations pledged to defy the order. Changes to lockdown regulations today also include letting people outside for work, worship, exercise or shopping, and allowing mines and factories to run at full capacity.
 
Today Singapore moves from its strict lockdown (called circuit breaker) to the first phase of easing restrictions.

More people are being allowed back to work and some schools are also reopening, although only classes for graduating years will resume.

So how do students feel going back to school amid tight social distancing regulations?

"It's necessary and it doesn’t bother us. Life goes on," one student told the BBC.
 
Students in the UK might have to stay in a "protective bubble" of the same small group, when university campuses reopen in the autumn.

University leaders suggested students would live and study with the same group to minimise mixing.

They were setting out safety measures for a socially-distanced student life - including a virtual freshers' week.

A survey suggested 71% of students would prefer to start the term later, if they got more in-person teaching.

University campuses have been closed since the coronavirus lockdown, with teaching switching online, and their representative body, Universities UK, has been setting out how they might bring students back for the autumn term.
 
Lockdown school closures could wipe out 10 years of progress in closing the achievement gap between poor and rich pupils in the UK, a report suggests.

Modest estimates in the government-commissioned report suggest the shutdowns could cause the gap to widen by around a third of what it is now.

This could mean the poorest primary pupils, who are already nine months behind, slipping back a further three months.

The Education Endowment Foundation also warned of a risk of high levels of absence after schools formally reopen, and said this posed a particular risk for disadvantaged pupils.
 
World Bank may loan $200m to lessen virus impact on Pakistan’s education

The World Bank has initiated preparation of a programme to strengthen federal and provincial governments’ institutions, policies and coordination for reducing the impact of external shocks on the education system. It is likely that the bank will provide financing of $200 million for the programme. It will focus on response, recovery and resilience for better coordination and innovative alternatives for out-of-school children.

A World Bank team has started working with the government to adjust national priorities as they currently do not account for the medium and long-term effects the Covid-19 virus will have on its ability to provide an equitable quality education.
 
Children in South Africa began returning to classrooms on Monday as part of a gradual loosening of restrictions imposed under a months-long Covid-19 lockdown in the continent’s most industrialised nation, reports Reuters.

The reopening of schools had been delayed after teachers’ unions urged school staff to defy the government order to do so last week, saying schools lacked sufficient health and hygiene measures to keep educators and pupils safe.

South Africa has counted nearly 50,000 cases of coronavirus – the most of any country in sub-Saharan Africa – along with almost 1,000 deaths.

Education minister Angie Motshekga said on Sunday that stronger efforts to equip schools over the past week meant 95% of South Africa’s primary and secondary schools were able to host classes. “The golden rule is there will be no school that will resume if not ready to do so,” Motshekga said.

Initially, only pupils in grades 7 and 12 will return to class, with other years phased in gradually. The government will find alternative arrangements for pupils at schools unable to open on Monday, she said.

Many of South Africa’s state-operated schools are in poor shape, particularly in rural areas, and analysts say that a quarter of them have no running water, making hand-washing nearly impossible.

Others have been vandalised or hit by arson attacks during a nationwide lockdown imposed by the government in March. Government officials, however, worry further delaying a return to classrooms would mean a generation of school children risks losing a key part of their education, and the future opportunities it brings.
 
Students return to university in China’s Wuhan

Chinese students are returning for the first time today to a number of universities in the city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak began.

Since early May, the local government has been phasing the return of students to academic institutions. Today, final year and postgraduate students who specialise in scientific research are able to return, state media says.

The official People’s Daily newspaper is sharing pictures of students returning to universities with their suitcases and masks. They have been told to turn up at specific times to maintain social distancing, and they are subject to temperature checks on arrival.

There were more than 50,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Wuhan, and people in the city spent 76 days in strict lockdown. On Friday, authorities confirmed the city was free of all symptomatic cases of the virus, but roughly 200 people who are asymptomatic are still under medical observation.

8b8d7e2f-1658-4756-93ba-abe9fb1e19b1.jpg
 
Matt Hancock is asked whether he expects schools to be able to reopen fully in September.

He replies that the "current working plan" is that secondary schools won't fully open until September at the earliest.

He adds that schools and the economy must reopen "safely" in a way that doesn't lead to the spread of the virus.
 
The government is to drop plans for all English primary pupils to return to school before the end of summer
The Children's Commissioner for England told the BBC the news would be a "huge disappointment"
 
School closed after pupil tests positive in southern England

A school in The New Forest, in southern England, has been closed after a pupil tested positive for Covid-19.

Pennington Infant School said staff were made aware that a child had the virus over the weekend.

Deputy headteacher Amy Wake said the "difficult decision" to close was based on "precautionary advice".

The affected pupil is in isolation with their immediate family. Others within the child's "bubble" have been told to self-isolate.
 
There's a question about whether the two-metre social distancing rule will need to be relaxed to get all children back in school.

Boris Johnson says the rule is "not the issue" in primary schools, but rather the size of the classrooms.

Asked whether relaxing the rule is a political decision, the PM says there is a "balance of risk to be struck".

Patrick Vallance says the requirement is not a scientific rule and there are other "mitigating factors" to keep in mind.

He says these will make up an "overall risk assessment" that informs policy - adding the advice is not, and has never been, "two metres or nothing".
 
Rise in children going to school in England but still less than one in 10

About 868,000 children in England went to school last Thursday, according to the latest data published this afternoon by the Department for Education.

Although this was up by a third on the previous Thursday, it still means only 9% of children in the country were in school.

When lockdown was imposed only vulnerable pupils and the children of keyworkers were allowed to go in.

Schools started to re-open to children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 on 8 June.

Figures for this week, as some Year 10 and Year 12 pupils started to go back, should be shown in next week's data release.

485fbd7d-87a8-4b71-91a3-1ff5f5c5ef40.png
 
Back to school: Paediatricians seek clear plans on return

More than 1,500 UK paediatricians have signed a letter to the prime minister calling for clear plans on getting children back into school.

They say the absence of millions of children from schools "risks scarring the life chances of a generation of young people".

Their concerns centre on the mental and physical health of children who have missed many months of education.

Plans for schools reopening have been published in Scotland and Wales.

The letter from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health calls on the UK government and the Northern Ireland Executive to follow suit.

"School is about much more than learning," the letter says.

"It is a vital point of contact for public health services, safeguarding and other initiatives.

"This includes access to mental health support, vaccinations, special therapies, free school meals, physical activity and early years services that help children get the best start in life."

Worsening health inequalities
These things are the difference between surviving and thriving for many children and their families, the doctors behind the letter say.

Covid-19 will worsen existing problems and deepen social and health inequalities, they say, with children from disadvantaged backgrounds who need the most support experiencing the biggest impact.

Paediatricians recognise the efforts of teachers, school leaders and local authorities to help children and young people, the letter says.

But the letter also says "they deserve decisive leadership from the top of government".

In recent days, leading child psychologists have also written to the education secretary in England expressing their concern about children and young people's mental health being harmed by absence from school.

There is growing evidence that children are not significant transmitters of the virus, and there is already known that they are at very low risk of becoming ill with Covid-19.

Schools were shut across the UK on 20 March as part of lockdown measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus. Apart from the children of key workers, most children have not been to school since then and will not enter a classroom until after the summer holidays.

Ministers in England said around 600,000 children were now back at school.

At the daily press briefing, Oliver Dowden, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said there was a need to reassure parents about sending their children back to school.

He also said he wanted to ensure all schools in England go back in September.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53080736
 
Latest on tutoring fund for England's pupils

One of the big stories in the UK today is the government's plans to help children in England catch up on the school they've missed. The government has pledged £1bn to back tutoring for disadvantaged pupils plus extra one-to-one and group tuition in schools.

Head teachers have welcomed the funds, but said more details were needed.

Labour's shadow education secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey also said the plans "lack detail and appear to be a tiny fraction of the support" needed, calling for a "detailed national education plan to get children's education and health back on track".

Speaking during a school visit today, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "The funds are broken down so some of it is for schools to decide exactly what they want to spend on depending what their priority is.

"But the thing that I think really matters is to get some more direct tuition, some one-to-one tuition for pupils, pupils who need some remedial help perhaps who really need help because they have lost time... to learn over the last few months."
 
Gavin Williamson says in March, the government "did something different from virtually every other nation" by keeping schools open for critical workers and the most vulnerable.

He says they did it as they "recognised the important role schools play in keeping those children safe".

The education secretary says they "want as many children back in school as possible", and for those who have returned, they are "enjoying being back in the classroom and being back with friends and classmates".

He says school is "vital", and as a result, "all children, in all year groups, will go back to school in September"
 
Next summer's GCSEs and A-levels could be delayed

Next year's A-levels and GCSEs in England could be pushed back later into the summer to allow more teaching time, says Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.

This would allow schools to catch up some of the time lost since the lockdown.

Mr Williamson told MPs he would be consulting the exam regulator Ofqual about extra time to deliver courses.

It follows a similar proposal announced for exams in Scotland.

England's education secretary, speaking in the House of Commons, said he wanted to find a way to "add more teaching time".
 
UNESCO says the pandemic has only exacerbated conditions that left nearly 260 million children excluded from school in 2018, urging governments to do more to help the most disadvantaged.
 
Johnson: We're encouraging schools to take more pupils if they can

The last question comes from the Eastern Daily Press about child inequality.

Mr Johnson says: "One of the saddest things is it's kids from deprived backgrounds who really need to be back in school who perhaps aren't going back into the primary school classes that are open in the numbers that they could and should."

He urges parents to get their children back to school if they can and adds: "We're encouraging primary schools to take more pupils if they can fit them in."

Mr Johnson adds that there are areas of the country that do need more investment in their schools and school buildings and promises to do "more on that"
 
Students in the UK who have missed out on their studies during lockdown are being asked to sign up for a "mass action" for compensation.

The National Union of Students (NUS) wants debt relief and compensation for students who have faced disruption since universities closed their doors.

Hundreds of thousands of students are paying for an education they are simply not getting, according to the NUS.

NUS research suggests one in five students have been unable to access their learning at all during lockdown, while one in three say it has been of poor quality.

England's universities minister wants students to complain directly to the relevant institution, with the Department for Education arguing that universities are "autonomous" and responsible for setting their own fees and arranging their own refunds.

But the NUS is calling for "a national sector-wide response from government".
 
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