The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unparalleled time of challenge for global education. The first case of Coronavirus was registered in Rwanda on March 13. Within a week, the Rwandan government made the prudent decision to close all churches and schools, a precursor to a broad lockdown that is credited with limiting the spread of the virus to under 300 cases with no fatalities so far. With that announcement that schools would be closing, our teaching and admin staff immediately began planning for how we could best continue to support our students’ learning from home. While many schools around the world have opted for on-line classes, we felt this solution would not be an equitable fit for our school community.
Ms. Andrea at her home teaching table
Sending graded work back to students using WhatsApp
What has emerged is an approached based on the delivery of hard-copy materials that have, depending on the guidelines of the government, been delivered or picked up by families every two weeks, followed by support via WhatsApp videos and pictures, phone calls and home visits as the lockdown has eased. I am amazed at the hard work and persistence of our teaching staff and the way that our parents have stepped up to help their students at home. While nothing can replace the face to face interaction of the classroom, I am very happy with the progress that our students have been able to make during this challenging time. It is an honor to be leading such an amazing community of learning, and we are eagerly anticipating the time when our school can gather again with the start of the 2020-21 school year in September!
