schools

27 May

A voice against re-opening schools

ObserverUncategorisedchildren, Namibians, schools, Teachers

Yes, we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place with regard to the school re-opening conundrum. I think restarting schools will prove to be more dangerous than keeping them closed for this academic year. As many have correctly pointed out, if anything went wrong, children can be super-spreaders of the pandemic as many (particularly the younger ones) may not have the self-conscious capacity to police themselves [utilize the mandatory methods to slow pandemic spread like self-spacing, washing hands with soap for 20 seconds and other actions], unlike adults who do not police themselves by choice. Besides, order and…

The price of not knowing why

ObserverNational NewsCovid-19, Government, schools

Our educational system teaches students to ‘do’ but not to think. Beneficiaries of apartheid and colonialism loved this. Thinking people will quickly and easily perceive weaknesses and attack strategically. After independence, in most public schools, that same back-handed educational trend continued. The reason changed. The priority was increasing higher literacy statistics and ‘grades.' The government did not want to slog up the hard road of educating teachers and teaching students critical thinking. In this pandemic, we now pay the price for this. We ask people to wear masks, but do not help them to understand why. That is the reason…