Education in Emergencies can include situations like the Covid-19 caused the education sector world wide or other crises situations caused by conflicts like wars or natural disasters. 

Education in secrecy

The bases of Finnish education is The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) . Every child has a right to learn. Yet some have to do it in secrecy. During 2020-2021, Ilona Taimela taught the children of Finnish ISIS fighters via WhatsApp, when they were in the Al Hol prison camp in Syria. Finland had made a political decision to repatriate the children and therefore the government had decided to provide education to the children during their imprisonment, but in secrecy from the prison guards and from the public. In her talk, she shares about the planning of the teaching, pedagogical principles and shows some examples of student tasks. 

Students’ challenges with emergency remote learning

Covid-19 and emergency education strategies in University of Ghana: Students’ challenges with emergency remote learning

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many universities across the world to implement online teaching and learning as an emergency education strategy to mitigate learning loss. How successful was the implementation and what lessons can the institutions learn going forward? Several studies have been conducted on the topic, but none seems to have adequately described the experience of University of Ghana students. To fill this gap, this study investigated the challenges that the University of Ghana students faced in learning online during the COVID-19 pandemic closure of schools. It also sought ways in which the challenges could be addressed. The study was a descriptive survey in which (265) undergraduate and postgraduate students, 142 (53.6%) females and 123 (46.4%) males, with a majority of the respondents 210 (79.2%) between the ages of 20-25 years completed a semi-structured survey instrument. The results indicated that the five most common challenge faced by the students were high internet data cost (94.3%), slow internet connectivity (90.6%), concerns about the quality of online learning (87.2%), weak technical support for online learning (81.9%) and students’ lack of motivation to learn online (80%). The results further showed that three best ways to address the challenges are reducing the cost of internet data, making online learning and assessment more flexible for students, and improving internet connectivity. The authors recommend that the Ghana government and University of Ghana authorities should upgrade the information technology and internet infrastructure to remove or reduce the online learning bottlenecks. 

Key Words -  COVID-19; emergency education; online learning; challenges.

Recounting the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic: Higher education students speak! 

The disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak have impacted almost all sectors of our society. People were asked to self-quarantine in their homes to prevent the spread of the virus. The lockdown had serious implications on the mental health of people. This has resulted in the prevalence of psychological problems including frustration, stress, and depression. Higher education students were not spared too by the pandemic. A lot of things were changed in education resulting in tremendous challenges being faced by the students. This study seeks to explore the effects of the pandemic on the lives of higher education students in South Africa. The study followed a qualitative approach where data were collected through individual in-depth and focus group interviews. The results indicated that students faced many challenges related to adaptation to new ways of learning, burnout due to enormous time spent on online classes and self-study and mental health amongst many others. The study ended by suggesting some recommendations that the students could use in the case that the pandemic would continue.

Keywords - Impact, pandemic, challenges, higher education students, disruptive

Education for Emergencies (E4E) with Chinese characteristics: multifaceted support in Minzu areas under the Covid-19 crisis  

Since the Covid-19 crisis broke out at the very early beginning of 2020, all works of life have been affected globally – education being one of the most affected areas. In this talk I explore five kinds of support for schools in Minzu ‘ethnic’ areas in China. I will use the phrase ‘with Chinese characteristics’ to describe the specific legal, contextual and educational aspects of the type of provided support. The following elements will be discussed: infrastructural and technological access, teacher professional development and training, the role of parents or extended family and the use of ‘informal educational places’ during the pandemic.

In this EdDisCo-led roundtable discussion, student panellists will start by sharing their lived experiences of education in emergencies.

An emergency in education is a critical situation that pushes relevant education delivery off its course, derails other systems and processes from supporting teaching and learning processes, and also prevents learners from accessing education equitably; emergencies can be either short-term or long-lasting. The panellists, and likely almost all of the conference attendees, have experienced emergencies during their time as students. Combining the diversity of contexts, eras, and emergencies, we thus have a unique opportunity for social construction of a deeper understanding of education in emergencies by listening to the voices of those who, as students, have lived through them.

In our discussion we can explore a variety of issues, such as perspectives on how social, economic and political factors during emergencies influence formal education both at K-12 and higher education institutions level. Also, we can explore how emergencies influence teaching and learning experiences of educators and students, as well as school leadership and administration. Since many students have worked with non-state actors (NSAs) in education as well, it would be valuable to hear and discuss the role NSAs play during emergencies in education in both the Global North and Global South.

Hearing about students’ experiences will add a unique and an important perspective to analysis of education in emergencies and also lend a scope to assess possible emergence of education during emergencies in various contexts. Also, as there are relatively few published examples of student voices on this theme, having students as panellists will help build a joint understanding of education in emergencies.