Remote Education
In Germany and the U.K., public TV stations now broadcast educational shows for schoolchildren.
German education channel ARD-alpha, as well as children's channel KiKa and broadcaster BR, are expanding their learning and school shows.
In the UK, too, the public broadcaster BBC will be broadcasting several hours of lessons every day from the start of next week. Starting this Monday, the children's channel CBBC and the BBC Two channel are to focus on content for schoolgirls. The initiative is intended to support both schools and families during the new lockdown.
Google has announced that it will fund 100,000 scholarships for career certificates of their own "Google Career Certificates" program in order to "help Americans get qualifications in high-paying high-growth job fields".
The goal is to educate people on a need-basis through their online program in order to "help America's economic recovery". In addition, the technology company has announced that it'll commit $10 million in job training Google.org grants distributed through multiple organizations for communities throughout America.
A statement released and signed by over 850 members of the Academic Faculty of Georgia Tech, states that the current reopening plan of the university "endangers our research and education missions and, most importantly, threatens the health, wellbeing and education of students, staff, and faculty."
"We are alarmed to see the Board of Regents and the University System of Georgia mandating procedures that do not follow science-based evidence, increase the health risks to faculty, students, and staff, and interfere with the nimble decision-making necessary to prepare and respond to Covid-19 infection risk," the statement said.
The Georgia Tech faculty further added four points they believe are the "best way forward to ensure a safer start of the Fall 2020."
Among those points are mandatory face masks everywhere on campus, making remote education the default mode of 2020, on-campus education for a limited number of students "who need access to campus residences and on-campus laboratories or other specialized facilities". The faculty also calls to empower the "President of Georgia Tech to act independently to safeguard the health and safety needs of the Georgia Tech community, informed by scientific evidence."
To combat inequality and disadvantages within pupils as they are forced to study remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic, the telecommunication provider BT has announced that 10,000 families in the United Kingdom will receive vouchers for internet access for half a year. The Department of Education will distribute these vouchers to families as School Standards Minister Nick Gibb stated that the goal is to "make sure no child, whatever their background, falls behind as a result of coronavirus".
More than 500 schools in South Korea closed just days after they reopened, due to a new spike in virus cases. Thousands of students had returned to school earlier on Wednesday, as the country began easing virus restrictions.
The chairman of the National Association of Parents for True Education Na Myung-joo said: "Except for the lower grades of elementary schools and kindergarteners who are in urgent need of emergency care services, and high school seniors ahead of the national college entrance exam, it will be safe for the rest of the students to conduct remote classes for the time being.".
The UK government's directive to reopen schools has been met with significant resistance from councils and schools. So far 18 councils who are responsible for around 1500 maintained schools have stated that they will not enforce reopening upon their primaries. More are expected to join the growing number today (Wed 20th May), with others leaving it to the individual schools to decide.
The deputy chief scientific advisor Dame Angela Mclean suggests that effective contact tracing is necessary before any changes are made to the lockdown, which essentially adds a sixth test to the five already set by government needed to be met before restrictions are reduced.
Many Canadian universities, including the University of British Columbia and McGill University and Montreal, have announced that they will start offering courses online. However, it has also been said that labs and other activities requiring in-person attendance will be held in smaller groups.