……ends maiden session
Humpty Dumpty School, a private basic school at Ahodwo in Kumasi has made a significant impact of virtual learning by defying the odds to engage the pupils while they stayed safe at home.
After considering many options to effectively teach and assess the kids while schools are shut down, the management of the School leveraged the available technology to ensure their kids do not waste away.
A virtual learning strategy via Zoom was arranged to cover the pre-school, lower primary, upper primary and the junior high school departments, with special attention to the final year students.
Classes were scheduled for the five working days and the pupils were expected to log in to join their mates and teachers online for virtual classes. The children had technical challenges initially but got used to the system as they progressed.
The programme which began in the last week of May 2020 ended in the last week of August lasting for three months with a thorough assessment using the classmaker software.
The maiden session which ended last Friday saw quite a significant number of the pupils benefitting from the programme.
Mr Philip Agyemang an English teacher and a coordinator in charge of the lower primary who administered the closing virtual assembly via Zoom expressed his appreciation on behalf the school’s management for the enthusiastic support of the parents.
He acknowledged the initial challenges they encountered but they were motivated by the support of the parents and the readiness of the pupils to do all the could ensure that their children were adequately occupied with academic work while at home.
Some parents have expressed their satisfaction with the programme as well as their appreciation not only for the tuition the teachers offered but the virtual online experience the children were exposed to.
Some of the children during the virtual closing assembly shared their experience having gone through successful virtual learning for the first time also expressed their appreciation to their teachers and even wished the programme could continue since they had become used to the system.
Mr Johnny Awo a coordinator in charge of the JHS department told Business & Financial Times in an interview that “as teachers, we are concerned about the academic well being of our kids and so we needed to do everything possible to find an effective alternative means to engage our children while they were at home,” he said
According to him even when the idea of virtual learning had not come up and the President had announced the closure of schools the teachers were sending exercises through parents’ mail just to occupy the kids while they were at home awaiting directive from GES.
The first session of virtual learning has come to a successful end and it is expected to resume on Monday, September 7, 2020.
