The academic achievements, let alone the motivation of students, has declined over the past year. This Wall Street Journal article follows the experience of twin 15 year old sisters as the novelty of the school closures soon wore off and the reality set in. While initially students with good results over this period their grades waned and at this critically important stage of their life the lost opportunity might never be caught up. Mental health issues are inevitably a big challenge at this stage, and educational psychologists attest to the fact that “being in a physical classroom is critical for many students to excel. Taking that away can be emotionally jarring for teenagers who rely on the community infrastructure that school provides”. Coping with reduced social interactions and online learning, with new dynamics, did little to motivate the sisters to work hard. The school adjusted their system of classification in order to be more lenient with grades and once the schools opened the girls worked hard to try and catch up. The point of this post is that if in the most economically developed country on earth children are struggling like this, then God help those with even fewer opportunities and less technology available to them. We must not underestimate the challenges to education.
