By Lucy Simiyu
Experts say the mental and emotional well-being of learners in the country should be addressed as they settle in their school routines following the Covid-19 disruptions of 2020.
It is important for schools and educators to take extra care and ensure students are not just continuing with their educational journeys but that they also receive the psycho-social support needs.
“It has been so wonderful to welcome our students back to our campus, the energy is palpable and the excitement clear,” says Jenny Coetzee.
She however argues that it was traumatic, frustrating, lonely and isolating the school-going children given the fact that 2020 took its toll on everyone.
She is the Managing Director at Crawford International School Kenya, a brand of Africa’s largest private education provider, ADvTECH.
She says the past year had a significant impact on the mental and emotional wellbeing of most people, and young children have not escaped the impact of Covid-19 and the curfews in this regard.
A September 2020 report by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), noted that Covid-19 affected children directly and indirectly beyond getting sick or the threat of them or their loved ones falling ill.
Many children’s social, emotional, and mental well-being have been impacted by the pandemic.
Listed as contributing factors to this impact were:
- Changed routines;
- Breaks in continuity of learning;
- Breaks in continuity of healthcare;
- Significant life events that were missed, and
- Loss of safety and security.
“Simply put, the students we said goodbye to last year when schools closed due to Covid-19, are not the same students who recently returned to us.
“They were faced with unprecedented upheaval and uncertainty for months on end, and some even the loss of loved ones, and these experiences would have, to varying degrees, impacted on their mental and emotional wellbeing.
“It should not be business as usual for the time being. We as educators need to be aware that on top of the demands of providing the highest quality of academic excellence.
“We should also be cognisant that our students may require increased levels of compassion, support and empathy, until we’ve settled into our new routines under what remains unusual circumstances which include social distancing and wearing of masks,” says Coetzee.
Pastoral care in education means a recognition of and response by an educational institution to ensure the holistic welfare of children.
Pastoral care is aimed at ensuring children are safe, engaged, involved and able to fulfil their potential.
Angelica Ouya, Education Director at the Makini Group of Schools, and sister school of Crawford agrees on the importance of pastoral care as students settle in, saying educators must aim to be more empathetic and flexible.
“Don’t expect things to pick up where they left off many months ago,” she says. “Returning to the new normal while we are still dealing with the challenge of Covid will take time.”
It is also important to remember that there will be gaps in learning, because some students could continue online, while some couldn’t.
“So while we are phasing in, expectations must be tempered and education needs should happen on more fronts than purely academic,” she says.
She adds that Covid underscored the importance of the cultivation of 21st Century and Soft Skills and so educators have an important role to play during this time of transition to help students build resilience and growth mind-sets
Coetzee says it is heartening to see how enthusiastic students and their families, as well as educators, are about the return to physical school.
“Even if things remain a little strange, getting back into a routine provides a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, that life may slowly be returning to normal. And with our schools now open again, it’s almost as if there is some energy being generated again that will be to the benefit of the whole nation,” she says.
Ouya adds that while the past year came with unprecedented challenges, it has also led to some remarkable stories of resilience and growth under difficult circumstances.
He says: “At Makini, we’ve had to adapt and adjust to ensure our students are able to progress despite constraints and in doing so, we were able to introduce new formats of learning as well as a new curriculum, the Cambridge curriculum..”
Ms Simiyu is the School Psychologist at Crawford International School
