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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Sarah Lansdown Peter Brewer

Reviews needed into effects of pandemic on education: report

All ACT public school students returned to face-to-face learning from June 2 after the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to teach remotely. Picture: Karleen Minney

Independent reviews have been urged to assess the effects of learning from home and how it affected the quality of children's education.

The Select Committee inquiring into the COVID-19 pandemic response has also recommended that all school systems provide extra support to students who may have been left behind by the changes in education, particularly those struggling before the emergency began.

The ACT government has defended the level of assistance it offered to vulnerable students, in which it provided needy families with notebook computers, internet connections, school wellbeing teams and an online telehealth service.

The committee's second interim report has recommended that the ACT government should commission two independent studies, the first to focus on the learning from home period so that improvements could be made if similar situations arose in the future and a second "longitudinal" study to measure the impact of the COVID-19 response on children's education.

The ACT teachers' union was supportive but would like to see more detail from the recommendations.

"Educational inequality is likely to have been exacerbated during the period of learning from home, even in a unique environment like the ACT where access to IT devices is good," union spokesperson Glenn Fowler said.

"At very short notice, the education system was reconfigured in what can only be described as a remarkable feat. Our members did everything possible to engage all students in remote learning, or in hub school learning, during this period."

A spokesperson for Education Minister Yvette Berry said the ACT government would respond in full to the recommendations of the Select Committee's report within the required time frame.

Schools were forced to quickly pivot their teaching models to be largely online towards the end of term one, while remaining open for children of essential workers and those who still needed to attend.

Students were gradually reintroduced to face-to-face learning from mid-May, with all ACT public school students officially back on campus from June 2.

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The Select Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic response heard that the rapid switch to remote learning exacerbated existing inequality.

The government spokesperson said the support provided to students and families in the ACT throughout the remote learning period that has now passed.

"The Chromebook program was temporarily extended to years 4, 5 and 6 in order to support families who needed that resource to engage with the remote learning program. Further, the ACT government also facilitated the provision of internet access to families that needed it to support remote learning."

The spokesperson said vulnerable families were supported by school wellbeing teams and the new online and telehealth service staffed by allied health professionals, including psychologists and social workers from the ACT Education Directorate.

The committee also recommended further work be undertaken to support students with special needs and that if there were further restrictions on face to face schooling that the ACT government prioritise facilitating normal schooling for these children.

It recommended that, wherever possible, students should have access to their local school during any similar shutdown.

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