GSQT – In more than 2 years affected by the pandemic, most countries have had to flexibly teach their students, especially teach online for primary school students.

Quality cannot be equal to classroom learning, but in a mandatory situation, teach online for primary school students is a way for the connection between children and school to not be broken. The problem is how to help online learning approach face-to-face learning.

Singapore: The nationwide online learning system

In Singapore, Ministry of Education has built an online learning system for the whole country, named Student Learning Space (SLS). Primary school teachers in Singapore see this as an effective supplement compared to just teaching on Zoom or Google Meets. On SLS, resources are quite diverse from videos, books, stories to interactive games.

According to the Straits Times (Singapore), as long as they have an internet connection, students can access SLS to watch language teaching videos, play games to develop computational thinking, and learn about history and geography through pictures. In particular, the software allows online connection with teachers to help students get answers to things they don’t understand quickly.

According to Singapore’s Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, students’ time at home during this special period needs the support of their parents. At the very least, parents need to give their children a timetable and a serious study space, so that children know that homeschooling does not mean a long vacation.

Thailand: Teaching on TV

In Thailand, localities actively connect with television stations to organize TV teaching programs exclusively for primary school students, especially grade 1. Thai Raith (Thailand) newspaper reported that the lessons are taught when children could not go to school because of the epidemic.

Ministry of Education also recognizes that distance learning will not be able to completely replace the traditional form. Therefore, this agency has asked schools to have a plan to take advantage of the “golden” time when students are back at school to check their level and supplement the knowledge that students are not sure about.

Europe: Not too focused on teaching letters

In European countries such as UK, Germany, Finland…, teach online for primary school students as well as face-to-face is not too focused on teaching literacy to toddlers.

According to Euro News, the teacher’s task is to keep the dynamism and curiosity of a young child growing up in limited outdoor conditions. They have to flexibly organize online activities, make up for the shortfalls compared to face-to-face learning such as playing games, drawing, exercising… during the time when they are forced to study online.