The Impact of Covid-19 on Peruvian Education
With the world amidst a pandemic, various industries have been affected, and the virus is even more deadly in developing countries like Peru.
Peru became the first Latin American country to enforce social distancing norms on March 16th, only ten days after the first cases were reported. Despite the government’s quick and efficient response to the virus, the education system lacked this swiftness and is currently under great burden.
Out of all the industries impacted the education industry has faced the greatest burden.
The quarantine impeded the schooling of 9.9 million Peruvian students, who were forced into quarantine and offline classes stopped.
Online teaching methods have taken over, however their impact and helpfulness is still questionable. When online classes failed, the Ministry of Education (MINEDU) adopted a new strategy. This strategy is called Aprendo en Casa for primary, elementary, and secondary schools. It is a non-attendance teaching initiative where classes will be progressively held in person.
This initiative is implemented by the cooperation between government, private organizations, and multilateral agencies. The media is also helping spread the word about the initiative. National radio and television and telecom companies are partnering with the education systems of various regions to raise awareness.
This policy also brings a change in the school curriculum and subjects like citizenship and certain socio-emotional aspects of education are added.
The universities could either reschedule their academic calendar or implement the policy. The National Superintendency of Higher University Education (SUNEDU) has enforced a criteria of accessibility, adaptability, and quality standards when giving non-attendance classes.
Both the MINEDU and UNESCO Peru are working and trying their best to reduce the impact on the education sector. UNESCO is supporting MINEDU and keeping in close contact with it guring inter ministerial meetings. It is also hosting online webinars for teachers of specialists who help the teachers understand the socio-emotional tools in contexts of emergency and isolation.
The government agencies are trying their best to curb the impact and bring everything back to normal.
Article Credit: Risha Chaurasia