The closure of schools for an entire year because of the COVID-19 pandemic provided important lessons to the education sector. The pandemic resulted in deviations from normal routines and conventional education models. Closure of schools for a year revealed five important lessons that are critical to post-pandemic education reform. 

Effective Learning Can Happen Outside the Classroom

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that effective education and learning do not necessarily have to happen within the four walls of a classroom. While the traditional approaches to learning theorize that, for effective learning to happen when the tutor and the student need to be in the same space, it is now clear that this notion is not entirely accurate. The school closures that happened during the pandemic forced the education sector to adopt new models of learning. Most emerging models utilize technology.

Technology Is a Life-Saver

Before the pandemic, different people criticized the use of technology in the learning environment, with many of them viewing it as a key distraction that hinders learning in school environments. However, this perspective has changed significantly, with many people now unable to see how effective learning can happen without the use of technology. It is because, by following the closure of schools, learning could only happen through the use of technologies, like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Online education platforms, like tutoring and writing centers, also came in handy.

The Education System Needs Better Preparedness

The main lesson that the pandemic has offered on the education sector is that it lacks adequate preparedness for highly-disruptive situations. While many schools and countries are sufficiently prepared for small-scale disasters and disruptions, like fire, poor weather, and violence, they are far less prepared for pandemics and disruptions that happen for longer periods on a larger scale. This aspect calls for better preparedness in the form of robust systems, which students and tutors can seamlessly switch to if they cannot access classroom learning.

Education Is Linked to the Economy

The pandemic also revealed the direct linkages between the education and economic sectors. Once the schools closed because of COVID-19, learners and tutors needed to be provided with platforms and infrastructure to continue learning. However, since the pandemic also hit the economy hard, funds for these changes were slow in coming, while it led to poor or no access to education for many learners. Once investments were made into services, like online tutoring and learning centers, learners got better access to academic services. 

Tutoring and Writing Centers Are Critical to Academic Success

Tutoring and writing services proved to be important platforms for enhancing education before, during, and after the pandemic. COVID-19 highlighted their usefulness in ensuring that students can continue to get academic help even though many schools were closed for a year. For example, Wr1ter.com believes that students should remain academically engaged. In turn, writing centers continue to provide student support even after the reopening of schools.

Ultimately, the gaps and opportunities provided by a year of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic offer 5 important lessons for the education sector. These lessons provide proof that education can happen effectively outside the classroom through technology. However, the sector needs better preparedness and help to students through tutoring and writing centers.