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A digital device rental scheme, mandatory homework sessions at schools, supervised by teachers, as well as master teachers giving lectures or classes, are among suggestions made by prominent Queen's Counsel Walter Scott as strategies that can be adopted by the education sector to counter the learning gaps created by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"The pandemic has, inadvertently, exposed not just the digital divide, but also the capacity divide. The former is easy to understand - there are those who have access to both digital devices and to the Internet, then there are those who have neither, and those who may have some sort of device to share with parents/guardians, but who have neither steady reliable access to the Internet or to data," Scott argues in a column in the current edition of his online discussion publication Public Opinion.
"The latter is the availability of human capacity; that is, parents/guardians who have both the time and the ability to assist students with both homework and with the reinforcement of taught material. The former requires continuous large infusions of cash. The absence of the latter is far more pernicious and requires both an adroit mentality and great determination," Scott states.
"The Government currently operates a book rental scheme in both primary and secondary schools. This scheme ought to be augmented by a device rental scheme - a keep and care of digital devices by the students for the academic year with penalties on parents/guardians for the loss and/or destruction of the device," Scott suggests.
Positing that the society will not be able to easily resolve the human capacity issue, as that is a multi-generational project, Scott states "In the interim, my proposed solution is for mandatory homework sessions, for say 90 minutes after school at schools, supervised by teachers."
The concept, he points out, is not novel. "It exists under the rubric of 'Prep' in boarding schools. Ask any old boy of Munro or old girl of Westwood High or Hampton High. It will provide a structured environment for homework to be done supervised by persons who have the capacity to assist. As this will be a State-funded project, it provides an additional source of income for teachers and sixth formers."
He also suggests that the individuals providing the supervision should not be those who provide the daily teaching to the students.
In relation to his suggestion for the use of master teachers, Scott states that it is well known that there exists a shortage of qualified experienced teachers of mathematics and physics. As such, he recommends that the existing master teachers in these disciplines could easily give their lectures or classes either live by virtual media or by pre-recorded sessions.
"Suddenly, the classroom is no longer 30-40 students but hundreds. It requires rationalising timetables and other logistical steps being taken. But it is achievable," he argues.
He also posits that the blended approach to teaching and learning is an avenue for the immediate abolition of the two-shift system, once the appropriate logistics are put in place and the device and Internet issues are resolved.