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International News

UNITED STATES houses. The area of Alabama around Tuscaloosa has sev-
Reopening hesitation eral hundred infections among people younger than 25, at-

tributed in part to parties with college students reportedly
trying to share the virus.
The nation’s better-known and better-resourced univer-
sities certainly have competitive advantages. Williams Col-
lege has cut its 2020-21 fees by 15 percent, the College of
William & Mary is backing off a planned tuition hike, and
Purdue University is spending some $50 million (Rs.375
crore) on campus protections such as Plexiglas barriers and
redesigned classrooms. Cornell University is still planning
in-person instruction, citing a study by one of its own re-
searchers that concludes that closing classrooms would be
medically riskier.

Remediation strategies

Williams College students: 15 percent fees cut AST YEAR KIANA JONES TOOK A SUMMER JOB
at a trampoline park, supervising birthday parties
US UNIVERSITY LEADERS HAVE BEEN ac- Land keeping an eye out for overzealous bouncers.
cused of “suffering from magical thinking” about This season Ms Jones, an undergraduate in Tennessee, is
their hopes of reopening campuses this autumn, spending seven weeks in a community centre drilling chil-
as coronavirus cases surge across the country. Institutions dren in reading and maths. She is one of around 600 locals
have been forced to dial back plans to resume in-person swiftly assembled by Tennessee Tutoring Corps, a charity
teaching and to cut tuition fees as the US hits new records set up in May by a former state governor to help children
of over 50,000 infections per day, despite more than three who have missed months of school. It will pay each tutor
months of lockdowns. $1,000, more than many had expected to make during a
The nation’s academic leaders, like much of the US pub- summer overshadowed by the pandemic.
lic, has long been “suffering from magical thinking about The efforts of those such as Jones are a rare bright spot in
the pandemic”, says Roopika Risam, associate professor of America’s scholastic landscape. The government has largely
secondary and higher education at Salem State University. failed to control the pandemic, with most schools remaining
Some level of denial may be normal, given this “extraordi- closed. President Donald Trump and education secretary
narily challenging” and unprecedented time. “Universities Betsy DeVos have threatened to defund schools that refuse
are no different,” says Risam. to reopen. Those that do welcome back children in the au-
The financial stakes loom as a major factor behind any tumn may have to rely on rota systems that allow pupils to
undue wishfulness. US universities are already counting bil- attend in person only part-time.
lions of dollars in losses and tens of thousands of lost jobs In other parts of the rich world, however, children are
due to the pandemic, and they widely expect the problem already coming back. In France, Denmark and New Zea-
to get far worse if they can only offer their students online land social-distancing rules have been relaxed to allow most
options. But if they do open their campuses – as most are children to return to classes every day. School children in
still promising — they face the prospect of people getting England will return full-time from September, says the
sick and dying, and of being held legally liable. “Colleges government. But getting children back into classrooms is
are in a pickle,” acknowledges Nick Ducoff, co-founder of only the first step in repairing the damage the pandemic has
the student financial advising company Edmit. done to their learning. Educators must now work out how
There’s plenty of blame for the mess. Many US states, to make up for lost time.
bending to public pressure, have lifted limits on business The challenge is huge. Lessons from the year now end-
operations and large gatherings without first making du- ing in May/June remain untaught. When children spend
rable progress in limiting infections. Donald Trump encour- any significant time out of school (including normal sum-
ages those actions and portrayed basic precautions, such as mer holidays), they tend to forget some of what they have
wearing face masks in public, as acts of political rather than already learnt. Analysts at NWEA, an American tests-pro-
medical importance. vider, reckon that by autumn some children will be a year
Many students, either through intent or inattention, have behind in maths.
managed to contribute even while still on summer break. Guidance produced by Unesco and McKinsey, a consul-
The University of Washington has counted more than 100 tancy, identifies three types of catch-up strategies. Schools
cases among its students, many tracked to its fraternity can give children more time, or they can adjust their cur-

64 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2020