Letters | Amid coronavirus school closures, could pandemic pods be the answer to parents’ prayers?

Parents across the US are organising learning pods of five to six pupils each to provide the educational environment children need while minimising infection risks. Hong Kong could adopt the idea with help from schools and government guidance

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Letters

Published: 7:25am, 11 Aug 2020

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Hit hard by the third wave of coronavirus outbreak in the city, stringent pandemic-control restrictions and social distancing measures are here to stay. As a parent, I’m more concerned about the timeline of school closure, and, if early childhood education will continue to stay virtual, what could be done to ensure quality education for my daughter.

Pandemic pods – a self-organised and bottom-up approach for multiple families to co-organise home schooling – is arguably a solution. As school districts in the United States have started rolling out their plans for the fall, parents across the country have begun to set up learning pods, small-group learning or micro-schooling.

Parents have to spend US$300-400 per week hiring a teacher to teach a group of five to six children, who know each other well. They either rent a studio space or organise the learning pod in their household.

In Hong Kong, kids’ summer classes and activities have come to a halt and the Education Bureau has extended the ban on face-to-face classes at school. Could pandemic pods fill the gap?

Secondary school students leave their campus on July 10. The ban on face-to-face teaching at Hong Kong schools has been extended indefinitely beyond August 17. Photo: Dickson Lee

According to a report by researchers at Cambridge and Bristol universities, school closures could have severe social and economic effects that endure for decades. Children are affected not just academically; social distancing affects their mental and physical well-being as well.

Here we face a dilemma: sending kids back to school may expose them to potential health risks while keeping them at home for online learning will also adversely affect their well-being. One advantage that pandemic pods offer is less risk of virus exposure while maintaining good-quality education supported by social life and small-group learning.

Not every family has the luxury in terms of space, time and resources to coordinate pandemic pods by themselves. Some local families even struggle with the Wi-fi access that allows their kids to keep up with the far-from-ideal online learning.

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Low-income Hong Kong students struggle as coronavirus forces classes online

As a parent and a doctorate student in education, I urge schools in Hong Kong to consider adopting the idea of pandemic pods by dividing students into smaller classes and offering the campus, such as the rooftops, library and outdoor playground, to host these pods.

Given the understandable concerns about potential health risks, the government should provide clear guidance with substantial resources to minimise possible chains of transmission. Philanthropists and companies could also partner with non-governmental organsations to provide fun and safe learning experiences with reference to the pandemic pods model.

We are living in unprecedented times. Research suggests educational disruption is affecting more than 1.5 billion learners globally. When universal coronavirus vaccines are yet on the horizon, it is time for our society to come up with a creative response to this new normal.

Marina Watt, Pok Fu Lam

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