Is pre-pandemic normal possible?
We all expected the public availability of a vaccine to make our world right again, including education. However, even in the midst of a breakthrough vaccine, Covid-19 based disruptions to schools seem likely until at least 2023. The shut down of schools has caused unprecedented conflicts among parents, teachers, employers, and district leaders. Additionally, the pandemic pulled longstanding issues about inequitable funding, access to technology, access to good teachers, and effective instruction to the forefront of our attention. Without getting into politics too much, public education is evidently in chaos. It seems every time schools attempted “in-person” reopening this past fall, numbers of Covid-19 cases would spike, leaving us again with various combinations of remote and hybrid schooling that differs throughout the country. If they have one thing in common, though, it’s that none of them are at a pre-pandemic normal.
Although there are obvious flaws in the systematic vaccination rollout program, one positive is that frontline workers started receiving immunizations this past week, with predictions of a public availability by Spring/Summer 2021. Even though educators are near the top of the list of eligibility, it will still take several months to a year for a vaccine that is safe for children under 16 years of age to be FDA approved.
The skewed rollout and lack of accessibility of the vaccine alone will halt pre-pandemic normalcy in academia for years. Then, add the aforementioned disorder within the system, and we get an unfavorable result: it’s just not clear when schools will reopen for continuous in-person classes! There are estimations and guesses, but will it ever truly go back to normal? By the time everyone is vaccinated and in person classes are rescheduled (maybe in 2-3 years?), there will still be some outliers. The “high risk” students might not return for the rest of their academic careers, and other students might choose to wear a mask all day in school. Neither are pre-pandemic normal.
On the bright side, this is okay and we’ll get through it. Humans have been evolving for millions of years. One solution that has evolved is E-Learning, and Askademic makes remote learning and tutoring so easy. Askademic has a solution for any remote learning need: tutors for casual homework help, skilled teachers for when the student needs a little extra attention, and even group settings to encourage social collaboration. Sessions and classes can range from elementary to college level. Whatever the student needs, Askademic can arrange! Check out our tutors and available specialties here. Submit a request for homework help here.
