How International Schools are Dealing with COVID-19

More than 1.5 billion students from 190 countries across the globe are at home following various government directives to close schools. International schools are no exemption – they were among the first to close globally. The central examination bodies for most international schools, Cambridge International Assessment Education, Pearson, and the International Baccalaureate (IB), have had to cancel or extend the upcoming exam series. Cancellation of school-related activities is a necessary measure to reduce the coronavirus spread.

Schools have had to seek alternative means to continue with education. The UNESCO Associated Schools Network is asking students, teachers, and parents to share inspiring stories about how they are coping during COVID-19 school closures.

Here is how international schools are dealing with the COVID -19 pandemic.

Partial Shutdown

Most of countries have opted for a complete shutdown of brick and mortar schools. Where the state allows selective closing like in Asia, international schools have allowed senior students to sit their final year exams to have access to schools’ campuses. Also, others may have closed for students but still open to members of the teaching staff.

Sanitizers are provided, and school hours reduced. Movement in the schools is restrictive to limit the point of entry in case of infection – as a precautionary measure. Other precautions measures such as social distancing are also being taken into account with teaching happening in a more open environment like halls.

The challenge with partial reopening is that most faculty members are expatriates, and a majority are stuck outside their teaching stations. This is in consideration of the travel bans imposed by governments. International schools have a diverse student population, often from different countries, and they have been affected by these travel regulations.

Maintaining Regular Communication

As mentioned earlier, international schools were among the first to close. This is because they were more vulnerable to the spread of COVID -19 compared to other schools. Most international schools experienced some major coronavirus scares with students coming from affected countries showing any signs of infections leading to panics.

Anyway, panic and hysteria are nothing new in the face of an adversary. Besides, it’s understandable why parties concerned would be apprehensive – people are dying. Therefore, the key thing is getting the right message out, with most international schools resorting to make and distribute video messages to their communities.

Schools are trying to listen to what parents and students are saying about the shutdown. It’s all about trying to understand their fears, and figuring out the best ways to communicate and answer raised concerns. Most are overwhelmed with questions from concerned parents concerning the health crisis and learning.

Reducing Fees

It’s a no brainer that international schools have fallen into an awkward financial situation. Parent’s willingness to remit school fees amid the pandemic has declined. Most of the parents have endured financial losses themselves, therefore, limiting their abilities to pay.

Even in the case of families that can comfortably afford school fees paying habits have been affected. Most parents are in the view that fees for terms affected should be reviewed since students are at home. Some international schools have considered their fees structure while others are having a hard time doing so. For instance, German international schools are on the brink due to the pandemic and argue that they cannot afford to reduce fees.

In an interview with DW, the chairman of the World Association of German Schools Abroad (WDA) states that overhead cost has to be covered, and school was reliant 70% on school fees to cover the same. Whether all international school will reduce fees and to what percentage will be based on a case to case scenarios. After all, different international schools have their own customized learning programs that will dictate the same.

Online Learning

With the spread of COVID-19, many schools have made the switch to a 100% online learning environment. Popular online video tools like Google classroom, Microsoft, Bluejeans, Seesaw, and Zoom, among others, have witnessed an increased subscription rate during this pandemic. Many International schools are trying to replicate the school day routine with online remote learning. It’s a concept termed synchronous learning.

With synchronous learning, international school students follow a school timetable and have direct assistance from tutors in the same way as a typical school day schedule, except the interactions are conducted through teleconferencing. Students are advised to dress appropriately, have a dedicated study space away from distractions, and ensure they maintain discipline during the virtual class.

Further, to avoid exhaustion to students and teaching staff, the schools are following a flexible routine with spaced breaks between virtual classes. Most international schools did not have a challenge integrating online learning tools into their learning schedule as most were already utilizing google classroom and G suite app before the pandemic. It was all about now scaling it up to accommodate all students and faculty members.

Some are integrating the massive open online courses (MOOCs) from universities that could benefit students in the online learning experience.

Adequate Support for Teachers

Many international schools are hiring IT support professionals ( or already had one) to ensure that students and staff members have adequate support. Most teaching staff are expatriates, and a few are stranded either in their host countries where the school is located or in other countries due to travel restrictions. With tutors isolated away from school, and others stuck in abroad away from the international school campus, maintaining the connection with teaching colleagues is hard.

International schools are liaising with teachers to ensure a realistic remote working schedule given the different time zone. Frequent virtual meetings are being held to ensure all staff are on the same page and allow for even more flexibility for successful teaching experience.

Concerns of a student struggling with using online tools are there, as well as data protection and privacy issues. Adequate support means ensuring that faculty members are using tools that require secure logins using a school email.

Wrap Up

One thing remains for sure; post coronavirus learning will never be the same. With adequate infrastructure, it is a hope that public and private schools can emulate the efforts of international schools. Preparedness is the key, and online learning will fully be embraced when the pandemic is over.