Challenges of Distance Teaching During COVID-19: The Experience of General Education Schools

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic strongly affected all areas of human activity, including education. Physical close-down of schools for the period of quarantine not only put the child’s right to education under a threat but also directly relates to the decrease of human capital and economic potential in the long-term prospect. Therefore, looking for optimal solutions in the occurred situation, schools shifted to distance learning. For the purpose of disclosing the experiences of general education schools gained during the quarantine period (from 16/03/2020 to 29/05/2020),
in June 2020 a qualitative study applying the method of focus groups was performed. Deputy Directors for education from 22 general education schools participated in the research. Analysing the experiences of the deputy directors in the organisation of distance teaching three basic topics showed up: organisation of distance teaching, securing the quality of distance teaching, search for didactic solutions in distance teaching. The article deals only with the results of the analysis of distance teaching organisation subject. It has been established that in the organisation of distance teaching general education schools faced the challenges related to the lack of IT solutions for distance teaching and learning; readiness for distance teaching and learning of the participants of the process of education (teachers, parents, heads of schools). The roles of the institutions of national and regional levels in the organisation of distance teaching have been disclosed, starting with an allocation of financial and technical support, development of a solid legal base, and finishing with a continuation of the established partnership between education and business.