April 2020 - Tumaini Transitions to Distanced Learning
On April 14th, a few days before schools was scheduled to reopen from Easter break, Mr. Magafuli, the President of Tanzania, announced school closures would continue indefinitely. This shocked and concerned much of the population, especially since most markets, restaurants, bars and other public spaces remain open. There will be no lockdowns in any major cities to reduce increasing economic hardship. Already, the sudden halt in tourism has caused a ripple effect in the economy. The income of most parents in the Karatu District has been severely affected.
Following the announcement on school closures, Tumaini teachers worked around the clock to develop distance learning materials for the students. Whatsapp, a popular app in Tanzania, that is often used to spread and forward information across the country was chosen by Mr. Bayo to facitiliate distant communication between teachers and students. Email is not commonly used in Tanzania as few people have laptops or computers. Mr. Bayo selected Whatsapp to facilitate distance learning because the app permits video call, voice messaging, individual chat, document sharing and group communication capabilities without requiring lots of data.
We are halfway through the Spring term, so a large amount of the curriculum has been and will be missed. The teachers at both Tumaini Secondary and Tumaini Junior have tried to mitigate this by sending notes, summaries, revision questions and study-at-home packets. Parents were contacted by Whatsapp, text and by phone call for those without a smartphone. This is no mean feat for Tumaini with over 1,000 students, and stands as a testament to the hardwork and dedication of their teachers.
At Tumaini Junior, the teachers produced a booklet of all subjects bound together with over 700 questions and summaries inside. Each parent was contacted and either came to collect the booklets, or had the booklets sent to them. Currently, a teacher is at school everyday so that parents can stop by to collect a booklet. This is a risk for the teachers who not only are potentially exposed to the virus, but they are also defying the government by remaining on campus.
This level of dedication comes with significant challenges. As Mr. Chitanda, the Academic Headmaster of Tumaini Secondary commented, “It is really difficult for us to give feedback to the students because there are many students and not all are responsive. We don’t know whether the parents and students are doing as we plan. Also, for those students whose parents don’t have Whatsapp and who live far in remote areas, we cannot do much.”
Mr Eliphas, the Academic Headmaster of Tumaini Junior had similar concerns, stating that for those children residing far from Karatu, their parents are unable to access the internet and the work sent to them. Furthermore, as many parents speak English as a second or third language, they are incapable of helping their children study. Children are reliant on individual communication with their teacher.
The creativity of the teachers in handling this challenge has been remarkable, and we at TEC continue to offer assistance as and where we can. We are excited to see where this new method of “Whatsapp Learning” may lead us for the rest of the term. Teachers remain optimistic and Mr. Bayo adds, “We are focusing less on grading and more on provision and access to materials. Our students are eager learners and we want to keep them motivated. We are glad by how responsive and receptive they are.” As the logistics continue to be fine-tuned, we will keep you updated!