Four years after the most frightening pandemic in recent global history, the Coronavirus sometimes feels like a distant memory. Or a nightmare. The fact is it’s neither, yet so many are still suffering long-lasting effects from it. While continued health issues plague some, others grapple with emotional traumas, relationship struggles and the loss of income that the pandemic brought.
Where are we as a society four years later? Most schools and workplaces are still dealing with the latest viruses or flu, whilst trying to limp along and balance their workload. But who was most affected by COVID-19?
ECD Centres and Foundation Phase Schooling
Learners in ECD Centres and Foundation phase education missed the opportunity to create vital connections for further learning and development. The United States National Library of Medicine reported that children born during the pandemic (From July 2020 onward) had reduced verbal, motor, and overall cognitive skills compared to children born pre-pandemic, between 2011 and 2019. Research from that same report also showcases that children from lower-income families were the most affected.
This data reflects statistics from the United States, but what’s more interesting is to examine the after-effects this virus has had on our youth.
The Love Trust’s Nokuphila School survived the pandemic with the help of their generously spirited teachers, donors and their entire learning community pitching in, united to keep ahead of their learner’s needs. The school’s in-house Remedial teacher, Laura Smit, and their Occupational therapist (OT), Penny Clark, are experts at assessing children’s needs and the gaps in their developing abilities.
Same, Same. But not Really
The saying ‘We’re in the same sea, but in different boats’ rings true when you consider the devastating effects the pandemic had on learners from underprivileged areas.
One of the most upsetting considerations is how many children spent months hungry because their school also serves as their primary source of nutrition. Schools such as Nokuphila provide their learner’s breakfast, lunch and snacks daily.
Nokuphila’s longtime OT, Clark, says that when the schools reopened, it became obvious that their students suffered from lacking their basic needs: running water and sanitation, very little or no food and limited stimulation that would allow them to learn through play.
Clark says, “Most individuals’ visual perceptual skills become consolidated by the ages of five and six. If you can cement developmental processes in the brain from a young age, they are more easily built upon.” So while older students may have battled boredom or discipline issues, younger students could not gain vital connections in their brains that allow for the learning to follow later in their school career.
Interrupted Learning
According to the Daily Maverick’s article on the effects of COVID-19 on children at the end of 2021, Dr Fouzia Munir’s analysis revealed that measures taken to control the spread of the virus contravened children’s rights, resulting in an education crisis. Clark reveals that upon return to school, the Grade 000’s (age 3-4) results from their annual screening assessment were dismal. This clearly indicates that they were not being stimulated enough without attending school.
Grades 1 and 2 are critical years for learners, where they learn the foundation rules for languages and numeracy. Concepts are embedded into their thinking and are then able to be applied across numerous subjects. When you consider that the language being taught in school is quite often a learner’s third or fourth language in South Africa, reality dawns what a catastrophe it is to lack exposure to the language at school through simple ‘Storytime’ rituals.
Beyond the Classroom
Outside of the 2020 classroom set up with rigorous social distancing space and individualised play boxes, sand pits and jungle gyms had to remain closed to many learners when they returned. Ruled as unsafe, these were ‘no-go’ zones and learners missed out on the sensory joy of sand and water play, and the benefits of crossing their midline on the jungle gym.
Crossing the midline is the ability to reach across your middle to the opposite side of your body, which is an important growth milestone as it involves the use of both sides of the brain to result in smooth and coordinated movements. Fine and gross motor skills were both affected by the lack of free play and organised activities. The expectation for learners to all be able to pick up where they left off was unrealistic and unfair to them, and their teachers.
Persevering Through the Pandemic
With time often comes healing, and as the inflamed panic around the pandemic faded, so too did the anxiety and the restrictions stopping educational facilities from being as effective as they would have hoped.
Whilst the new challenges may have seemed overwhelming, the inspiring staff at schools like Nokuphila have never given up on their dreams. They aspire to provide quality education, which in turn provides hope for their entire community.
Remedial teacher Laura Smit has been a part of the school’s fabric since 2018 and was able to witness all the changes during this tumultuous time. From the hard lockdown to their full re-opening, the stop-and-start mechanism of the lockdown levels was trying for both learners and staff, but they forged ahead, knowing that it would get easier.
Smit says, “For the kids who previously had a small learning gap, it would have possibly meant a term or two in remedial to close that gap, whereas most of them now need closer to a year.”
This reinforces Clark’s sentiment about the building blocks of learning being harder to go back and re-lay at a later stage. Smit stresses that language and speech development are vital when preparing for Grade 1, and many educational milestones are now having to play catch up.
Strategies to Support Students at Home
In cases where Remedial and OT are not viable, there are still many exercises which Smit and Clark urge carers to do at home:
- Remember, children learn through play. You can create your own home version of ‘snap’ or dominoes.
- Language exposure is key. Visit a local library for storybooks, and try to listen to radio or TV shows in their learning language.
- Stimulate all the senses. Encourage your child to get involved in cooking and other chores at home. You can involve a rhyming game or song to keep it fun.
- Create a routine during school holidays that still promotes learning. Whether it be counting the potatoes out for supper, or creating art out of old grocery boxes, almost every activity can provide learning in some form.
Building Back Better
Despite the significant challenges posed by the pandemic, the children at Nokuphila have demonstrated remarkable resilience. With the steadfast support of dedicated educators, therapists, and their communities, these young children are developing robust coping mechanisms that will serve them well throughout their lives.
While the pandemic undoubtedly set back many learners’ developmental progress, the collective efforts to address these delays are fostering a generation that is not only resilient, but also equipped with the tools to overcome adversity.
