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Generation Covid: The lost years Of education

SARAH CATHERALL

TE Rongopai McNaught is worried her marks have slipped because of two years of school closures wrought by five lockdowns.

The head girl at James Cook High School in South Auckland is anxious about returning to class on Tuesday, but wants to be a role model to students who might stay away because they’re nervous. Her sister, Matakorama, in year 12, plans to stay learning at home because she’s scared of Covid, even though the family is double vaxxed.

The decile-1 college is anticipating that two-thirds of 670 senior students will come back on Tuesday. The rest will remain learning online, as they stay away out of fear of either failing or because of Covid. Some will juggle jobs, including as essential workers. McNaught knows two friends who have left school for fulltime work to support their families. ‘‘I find that very sad. We were so close to graduating.’’

She adds: ‘‘I found lockdown really hard. I learn a lot more in the classroom and talking with my friends . . .

Online it’s so hard to concentrate because there are distractions. My learning compared to at school is really low now, and I hate that.’’

Year 13 was supposed to be the best year of Te Rongopai’s schooling. The school managed to get a ball, but other events have been cancelled or postponed. Along with hoping her peers will be back ready to sit NCEA exams rather than dropping out, she hopes to run the school talent quest and an end-of-year assembly before the year is out.

But most of her focus is on ensuring senior students stay in the school system. Her principal, Grant McMillan, knows students who are juggling jobs and logging in at night – one did an assignment this week at 2am. For that reason, the school will do everything it can to keep all senior students engaged: evening online classes (staff will be on roster), extra workshops over the summer holidays, and offering private help.

He’s aware that many students won’t have done much in the term. He has told staff to assume the students have done nothing, and to start Tuesday classes like that. With some staying home and some leaving school to work, he’s concerned that NCEA exams are still on. ‘‘The break our students have had is longer than the summer term break. Students don’t come back from the summer term break and remember what they’ve learned in December.

‘‘We don’t want young people pulling out or withdrawing because of their fears.’’

Auckland students, particularly those in South Auckland, are being called the lost generation – a cohort of students who have missed out on chunks of in-class schooling for two years, a disadvantage that has blown out through this latest lockdown. The equivalent of a school term wiped out has exasperated all the educational inequities that existed before.

Principals and educators are mixed about whether seniors should go back on Tuesday. Some principals and the PostPrimary Teachers Association are calling for some NCEA exams to be scrapped or postponed. Two schools have said they’ll keep their gates closed. ERO is worried that Auckland students are slipping behind.

After last year’s lockdowns, ERO found Covid affected student engagement, attendance, learning and wellbeing. Students from Ma¯ ori, Pacific Island and low-income communities suffered most, and were less likely to engage with online learning.

Ruth Shinoda, ERO’s deputy chief executive, says research indicates NCEA students in Auckland may struggle. Some may need additional support. Schools in lower socio-economic communities will be the most in need. Attendance is likely to be a problem, as not all students will go back to school or attend regularly.

ovid’s impact on students depends where you live in Auckland. At decile-9

Macleans College, principal Steve Hargreaves has counted more than 90 per cent online engagement and attendance during this lockdown. Students affected most were those who need to be in an art or technology room to finish projects, those with learning challenges, and those with mental health issues who might not have engaged because Covid has made them more anxious. The school’s counsellors have never been busier helping anxious, stressed students via Zoom.

‘‘But some students like learning independently, and they prefer learning online. Most of our students are able to work from home very well.’’

He thinks it’s too early to say if lockdowns have left Auckland students worse off than those in the rest of the country, but it’s a different picture for schools in disadvantaged communities. ‘‘The effects will be felt unequally across schools,’’ says

Hargreaves, who also heads the regional Auckland Secondary Schools’ Principals’ Association.

A parent of a student at decile10 Western Springs College who did not wish to be named is delighted her double-vaxxed son is heading back to school. However, he has achieved excellence endorsed – the top mark – in level 2 NCEA subjects and doesn’t need to work hard now or to sit exams.

The student says: ‘‘I do think it’s been hard learning online though. I learn a lot more at school and I found it really hard to focus. The days dragged on. I also found some of my teachers had their kids at home with them. One had to leave a session because her baby was crying.’’

There are some carrots for Auckland students. They’ll be eligible for extra learning recognition credits, and the New Zealand Qualifications

Authority (NZQA) has confirmed students in

Northland, Auckland and Waikato will be able to get unexpected-event grades because of Covid.

At decile-4 Avondale College, Delores Lesatele is double vaxxed and desperate to get back to school, but she is nervous about Covid as her 78-year-old grandfather lives with her family.

The year 13 prefect says: ‘‘I’ve missed school a lot. I can get distracted at home.’’

Delores’ biggest stress is the amount of face-to-face and classroom time she has missed in the latest lockdown – adding up to a quarter of the school year. The 17-year-old hopes to get excellence endorsed in level 3 NCEA, and is relying on her level 3 exams to achieve that grade. She has a scholarship to study at Auckland University next year, but still hopes to get the grades she aspires for.

‘‘Lockdown has affected us in our school work. It’s really different being at home without a face-to-face teacher to help you,’’ she says. ‘‘If you have a question, it’s really hard . . . It’s hard being motivated and looking at a screen for so long.’’

Her younger sister Catherine, in year 11, is also looking forward to returning to school. Their mother, Sulieti, works from midnight till 8am, while their father, Michael, also works night shift. That means the girls’ parents are both at home during the day, which Delores says is a good thing.

‘‘Mum always makes sure we’re doing our school work.’’

Being at home means she has not been able to finish her art board, and she’s worried she’s going to fall behind. ‘‘It sucks that the school year has ended like this,’’ says Delores. ‘‘I didn’t expect it would drag on for so long. But I was really surprised we are going back. I thought they’d just keep us at home for the rest of the year.’’

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2021-10-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281621013539612

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