While it is too early to say what the final impact of the coronavirus pandemic will be, the crisis has changed almost everything in the short term: international borders have closed, countries have locked down, the global economy has been hit and entire industries have been asked to rethink the way they operate, including the education sector.
It is an interesting and challenging moment for schoolchildren, parents and teachers.
For pupils, the change is arguably the greatest, with this period of isolation and physical distancing likely to be the milestone moment of their childhood and development.
A very wide line in the sand has now been drawn in all young people's lives between how things used to be and how they are now: proms have been cancelled, transition days have been postponed and while some exams will still take place, they will not be sat under normal conditions. Students may even be apprehensive about going back into the classroom when this is all over.
Parents are being asked to support their children's learning while also adapting to working from home themselves and, in some cases, dealing with loss or reduction of income. The example set by at least one UAE school group to provide virtual counselling for parents is a good one, because this is an unprecedented moment of anxiety in many households and also because this initiative recognises the need to adapt to challenging times and to work together.
Yasir Sabah, an Arabic teacher, conducts an online lesson to his students by his mobile phone in Fallujah city, western Baghdad. EPA
But it is also not surprising that the drums of discontent began beating over fee payments for private schools soon after it was announced that distance learning was to continue until the end of the summer term.
Many parents feel that the fundamentals of their contract with schools have radically changed over the past month, quite apart from possible reductions in family incomes, which is why there has been pushback where administrators say they will not reduce fees or have only made small concessions. The reality is that schools currently provide a different service to the one that they offered at the start of the academic year.
Schools will rightly say that most of their income is used to pay fixed costs, such as teacher salaries, making it hard to offer deep discounts or any at all. But other running costs will inevitably reduce during this period of distance learning.
Some schools also operate at a surplus in normal years, which is either distributed to shareholders through dividends or ploughed back into the school itself. In such extraordinary times, that surplus could be used to alleviate the burdens felt by the broader school community.
In Abu Dhabi, a fund has also been established by the Authority of Social Contribution – Ma'an – with the support of the Department of Education and Knowledge, to which parents can apply for aid to help pay school fees or for the purchase of technology to support distance learning. A similar scheme is operating in Dubai.
Sadly, other less benevolent examples of parent-school interaction have also emerged.
An FS 2 student attends online classes at her home in Masakin Al Furjan area in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National
There is no doubt that when this is all over, many of us will re-evaluate large parts of our lives, not just schooling, but where and how we live and what communities we value
In the UAE, one major school operator has said that it will "means test" parents who say they are unable to pay fees. In the UK, it has been reported that one private school has told parents it will withhold predicted grades for students seeking university places unless fees are paid on time.
These examples and many more illustrate the ways in which the relationship between schools, parents and children has been comprehensively rewired at seemingly lightning speed.
Once better days return, parents will look at the school their children attend and ask themselves a series of questions: did that school handle this period of distance learning well? Was the school concerned with student wellbeing? Was the school transparent in its dealings over possible fee reductions? Did it come up with smart solutions to new problems?
There is no doubt that when this is all over, many of us will re-evaluate large parts of our lives, not just schooling, but where and how we live and what communities we value. If there is a negative answer to any of those questions above, you will find a lot of movement between schools as parents seek a better deal for their children and for themselves. The natural balance of things has been shifted by the Covid-19 crisis and it is unlikely to snap neatly back into place.
On the other hand, schools that innovate, are responsive to student needs and foster a heightened sense of community, will emerge stronger than ever from these troubled times. As in every crisis, there is an opportunity to be grasped, but to do so it requires us to reach out rather than look inwards.
Nick March is an assistant editor-in-chief at The National
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
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British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened. He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia. Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”. Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
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Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
Ban fruit juice and sodas
Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
Don’t eat dessert every day
Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
