Page 132 - DGPS - YearBook

DISTANCE LEARNING

COMBATTING THE OUTBREAK

4th of March, 2020 – this was probably the last day of school life, though there were sporadic reports of people in Dubai contracting the
Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it wasn’t yet widely heard of by the majority. The next day, 5th of March 2020 was when many of us felt
its impact. Those shamrock green benches that always attracted crowds were vacant, hand sanitizers were in every student’s pocket
and practices such as sneezing into the crook of one’s elbow were gradually being embedded.

The news that ‘schools and higher education institutions are to close for four weeks, starting Sunday’ left a few of us in quite a demented
state. We felt a hint of fret combined with a sense of relief. 23rd March 2020–the day when things took a completely different turn.
Cambridge International Education System and Pearson Edexcel examination body declared not to run their international examinations
in the May/June 2020 series in any country.

I was absolutely appalled, and in a state of agony and angst upon hearing this. Those weeks of extensive exam preparation and
consistent hard work appeared to fritter away. The desire to ameliorate our previous exam grades and attain better results in the
upcoming examinations had faded. After days of being thrusted in a perplexing maze of excessive worry, I decided to view the state of
affairs from a different perspective. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the lives of many, globally. More than one
billion youth are now no longer physically in school after the closure of schools and universities across many jurisdictions, families have
been detached worldwide and more than one million people have been pushed into extreme poverty as a consequence of COVID-19.

Instead of being ungrateful and complaining about the contemporary situation, all of us should practice gratitude and stay grounded to
optimism. Many of us are leading a much finer quality of life; we live in a house large enough to practice social distancing, have access
to e-learning and most of all, we live in a country that has underlined its commitment to mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
whether it’s through the national sterilization program across all the emirates or by carrying out immense number of PCR-based tests
every day. UAE’s frontliners are working relentlessly for the protection and safety of the communities living in this country in preparing
for and prevailing in this unprecedented global challenge. Let’s support these workers during this outbreak by playing our part wisely
and taking all the necessary precautions to stay safe so we flatten the curve together!

Abeer Shahzad - Year 13

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