The 2020/2021 school year in North Macedonia officially starts on Thursday amid growing uncertainties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over 270,000 high school and primary school students, of which 19,000 are first-graders, are to start school today – some of them in the classrooms, and most online at home.
Students up to third grade will go back to school for in-person learning, unless their parents are against it. The rest of the students will attend online classes, communicating with their teachers via the national distance learning platform. Users of the platform are facing certain challenges in the service, however the Education Ministry and the platform’s creators from the Faculty of Computer Science & Engineering (FINKI) said weaknesses are detected and removed on an ongoing basis and they expect the platform to be fully functional and serve all its users.
Referring to the national online learning platform, Education Minister Mila Carovska said the test of the Microsoft Teams system proved successful. “The students will be in classes according to the plan. Classes will be held online as planned as the remaining modules of the platform are being optimized.”
The conditions in these unprecedented times, Carovska said, should not be viewed only as challenge and obstacle, but also as an opportunity to modernize the education system quickly.
“The challenge in this short period of time wasn’t easy and it’ll never be easy, but we don’t run away from the challenges, we address them to overcome them as quickly as possible. This year will be very different,” Carovska told a news conference.
Cooperation, she noted, should be established between parents, students and teachers and between teachers and mayors and experts in order the cooperation to make it possible that we have a successful school year.
The Minister urged for calm and patience ahead of the start of the new school year. “Changes are difficult, but digitization is a blessing for our society. Even when the pandemic is over, our teachers will have digital skills,” she stressed.
I see no reason why the school year should not be successful, Carovska noted.
The platform has over 270,000 users, and about 160,000 have registered so far. FINKI professor Boro Jakimovski said Wednesday that his team has accepted the challenge to establish a platform in a very short period of time.
In-person learning and health protocols will also be in place for those students whose schools have been permitted to organize it, in line with the COVID-19 situation in the area.
According to latest information, out of a total of 864, nearly 600 elementary and secondary schools have been permitted to organize in-person learning.
As regards possible boycott to classes by residents of some municipalities who demand in-person learning instead of online learning, Carovska firmly said the decision of health authorities must be followed, as having a large number of students in one place is a great risk to the protection of public health.
Asked for a comment on the high school students demanding blended learning in schools and threatening to boycott classes if a blended approach isn’t introduced in November despite a stable epidemiological situation, Carovska said the plan for the 2020/2021 school year had been already closed.
“This is not a wishing well, this situation is real and we must follow the recommendations of health authorities,” she told Wednesday’s news conference.
The Education Minister however, added that communication with the students is ongoing and will continue, and she agrees for a revision of the decision on online learning if the epidemic situation improves.
“Boycotts and protests won’t change the decision to protect public health, and that is the main goal, everything is based on facts and analyses,” Carovska said, noting that adjusting to the situation is a must.
In addition, Carovska pointed out that the children who don’t have the necessary equipment, computers, or who cannot log-in for online classes, they can be part of in-person learning. If they are unable to be in classrooms, for example if their parents decided against in-person learning, then all students will be provided with the needed materials to study at home. Also lectures will be recorded to be aired on TV.
“Perhaps it’s not the ideal solution, but it covers all students to be able to attend classes in some form,” Carovska added.
Thursday also marks the start of the academic year, when a new generation of university students will attend their first academic class. The rest of the students will be returning to university classes, mainly online, since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in early March.
According to the Skopje-based Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, this academic year some of the 23 faculties will have fully online courses, while others will apply a blended approach due to the nature of the content and the learning methods implemented.
The Commission for Infectious Diseases decided to reopen dormitories, but with half capacity and strict observance of protocols.
Students who cannot be accommodated due to the situation and the reduced number of beds, despite having had their applications approved, will receive a monthly amount to cover the cost of private accommodation, i.e. a monthly amount to cover transportation costs from the place of residence to the place where they study. To apply, students would need to register at www.digitalizirajse.mon.gov.
