Linda Alghalayni, Nicola Baloch, Ulrike Krawagna, Mai 2021
Im Dezember 2020 führten der Graz:Spendenkonvoi gemeinsam mit Linda Alghalayni, syrische Journalistin und Moderatorin der Frauen:Zoom Meetings durch. Frauen:Zoom fokussierte auf die arabisch sprechende Community in Graz und hier Migrantinnen und deren besondere Herausforderungen in der Covid 19 Pandemie generell und im Lockdown im Speziellen. Information, Unterstützung und Begleitung wurde in Form von 4 muttersprachlichen Zoom- Meetings gegeben. Diese Meetings wurden von der syrisch stämmigen Journalistin und Moderatorin Linda Alghalayni geleitet und begleitet, die sich bereits mit ihrer Radiosendung „Integration in Arabic“ einen Namen gemacht hat.
Hier Lindas Bericht auf Englisch:
With the beginning of 2020, the dreams of many people were dispelled. As soon as the New Year began, the world was surprised by a piece news that caused to freeze the entire globe (Covid 19), a rapidly spreading virus that started from China and invaded quarter of the globe, causing huge economic losses and many lives of those whose bodies could not bear the virus’ attack .
With the imposition of the first strict quarantine, fear and confusion dominated people and governments alike, as both were not qualified to deal with such an emerging circumstance.
The education sector had the lions’ share of the chaos. At the beginning, distance education was imposed through the Internet and some meetings ‘programs, such as TEAM program, in which the students attend learning video lessons and receive files and homeworks from the teachers directly, upload them, then send the solutions by email or Upload pdf files to the team program, and sometimes print the answer sheet s and give them it o the teacher at the school on a specific day in which the rules of social distancing are taken into account.
Parents and students alike face many problems due to this new educational system, for example:
1) The lack of computers or tablets for each student in the family
2) The internet signal is weak or disconnected sometimes when more than one device is connected.
3) The big number of assignments given by the teachers.
4) Boredom and tiredness, which sometimes cause the student to sleep during the lessons.
5) The insufficient interaction between students and the teachers, which sometimes causes the students not to understand the lessons well.
6) the children have no chance to let their physical energy out (especially from the age of 6 years to 12) as was the case in schools, which causes a psychological and nervous stress for students and parents alike
7) teenagers suffer from depression and nervousness and refuse this type of education because (and as I was told during the zoom meetings) they need to see their friends and play or have fun with them in school and during the breaks, even they suffer from poor physical activity during the day, most of them spend The time of the virtual school lying in bed or sleeping, or making problems with their parents and siblings. Many of them commented that the Corona generation does not deserve to go to universities, they are, and if they pass the exams, they do not understand the lessons well. One of the students told me, (We are like robots without a soul)
8) Parents, especially mothers, were subjected to pressure due to the presence of children of different ages and grades who are forced to attend school lessons at the same time, as the mother finds herself obliged to supervise everyone and make sure that they attend lessons (one of the mothers said: my main task is to watch my son and Be careful not to fall asleep during the online lesson)
9) Some problems with old neighbors due to the semi-permanent presence of children and teenagers in the house, and thus causing some noise as a result of jumping, playing , and the loud sound of songs or television.
10) A state of chaos and stress when the family has a little kid or a baby, especially to the mother. A little kid or a baby needs a lot of attention and may cry or scream during school lessons, which make teenage students angry and distracted.
11) In some families, the mother is also must attend online courses at the same time that the children are learning online , and thus a state of chaos prevails .in another situation the online lessons may be at different times, but the children prevent the mother from concentrating in the lesson because they have nothing to do at that time .
The participants in the Zoom meetings gave some suggestions to alleviate this pressure , most notably are :
1) Reducing the number of homework assigned to the student
2) Allowing students to go to school for at least two days, taking into consideration the rules of social distancing and sterilization.
3) Making different groups of students and different times for online learning, for example some groups are in the morning and some in the evening.
4) Finding solutions for students who do not have computers (for example: public places equipped with computers so that the students can go and attend the lessons, and these halls can be in the school itself or in public libraries or NGOs offices etc. )
5) Working on educational videos that provide additional explanation of the lessons so that the students can return to them if they do not understand a certain idea or lesson.
6) Increase the number of workers in organizations that take care of children and mothers so that the workers there can help the families who have more than one child (for example: go with little kids to play in parks or playing centers while older brothers or mothers attend online education classes, or help In teaching students.
7) Finding some physical activities that may help students release their physical energy (sports competitions, ski trips, parties in small numbers, and taking into consideration the rules of health and safety)
8) Regular meetings for mothers, with some activities and talks, and perhaps a cup of tea or coffee to alleviate the pressures and stress that mother are exposed to during the period of quarantine and online learning.
9) Work on raise the fathers‘ awareness of the need to help mothers who have double responsibilities on their shoulders.
10) Divide the classes into small groups and allow them to go to school and attend some lessons personally, especially mathematics or sports.
I participated in the Zoom meetings with mothers and students from different countries of the European Union (France, Holland, Germany), also Turkey, Vienna, Linz and Graz. All participants express their dissatisfaction with this educational system, especially as they noticed that their children complained that they do not understand many topics. Parent’s hope that the governments and responsible organizations could find appropriate and solutions for this situation specially with the expectations of a longer lockdown.
Graz:Spendenkonvoi 