Georgia’s schools spent most of its previous academic year teaching online. We identified a wide range of vulnerable groups for whom the distance learning created substantial obstacles or made it completely impossible to access education. These are students with poor socio-economic status, some of which live in rural areas, and/or with multiple siblings. The central reason that has exposed the educational inequality was these students’ lack of access to internet due to poor financial situation of the family or no internet coverage in the area, lack of adequate number of or any gadgets that can access online classes (personal computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone) for all siblings, and dodgy internet connection and/or electricity supply in the area. Unequal access to education reflected in classroom absence, poor attendance, participation and learning among the most vulnerable of Georgia’s students. We discussed how pandemic deepened the digital divide among schoolchildren in more detail in our article.
Second year into the pandemic, Georgia has started its academic year online. Parents and public at large are divided on this decision – some were relieved, while others criticized the decision, mainly because many other sectors remain open to the public and pointed out that the government was unable to provide safe environment in schools to allow for traditional format of schooling.
One week into the second academic year of distance learning, with COVID vaccination statistics falling short of the target markers and high persisting figures of the virus spreading, we have to ask:
If the schools have to remain closed for any time period in the current academic year, would the access to digital education be any better for the most vulnerable that have lost the most in the previous year?
Based on the discussions we had this week with the teachers from multiple regions in Georgia, not much has changed. There have been individual efforts made by the teachers, local communities or NGOs to equip some of the vulnerable students with gadgets and/or internet, but the general situation remains the same as last year.
“During online [schooling] problem of having no internet or devices came more apparent. Or the mobile phones did not have enough memory to download [Microsoft] Teams or other applications and utilize them fully, so these problems intensified. Then there is a problem with electricity – if they have WI-FI, there is often a problem with electricity supply, so we encounter even more problems. The children, of course, are not in equal position and it reflects on their education too.” – described a Teacher from Telavi municipality.
“The parent might have a smartphone, but if they work, they are away [from home] and children still cant access [online classes], – added a teacher from Tkibuli municipality.
Even if there are enough devices in the family for all siblings, lack of isolated physical space hinders the lesson process, as a teacher from Telavi municipality described by their recent experience.
“Household conditions add to [the internet and electricity problems]. Some families have two or three children that go to school. Some children live in two or one room [apartments]. And on top of that if the parent is a teacher, there are additional problems. The sounds [from multiple devices/classes] overlap. Even yesterday was very difficult for me, I thought a TV was on and I asked the student to turn it off and they told me ‘he/she has a lesson too, teach’. There is basically no difference between the last and the current [academic] year.”
In January 2021 – nine months into the pandemic – the Georgian government signed an agreement with the mobile operators on cheaper mobile internet packages for students and teachers. This was a measure seen by teachers and parents across the country as too little too late. In addition, it is required that the mobile numbers registered in the Microsoft Teams platform that the schools use for distance learning are registered to the student’s name – therefore the students who do not have personal phones (these are mostly the primary school students) and use those of their parents’ are ineligible for the cheap mobile internet packages.
“This [deal on cheap mobile internet packages] was a complete nonsense. It was information targeted for the TV [publicity], that we, the government and the [mobile internet] providers agree and sign [the contract]. I doubt that more than 10% of [Georgia’s] schoolchildren used it,” – says a teacher from Guria.
Besides the lack of government and private sector efforts on internet provision, according to teachers, the netbooks provided by the government to the first graders are most often has reached its expiry date and are useless by the 3rd or 4th grade, so the family has to purchase digital devices for the children.
Our respondent teachers and parents agree on online schooling in its current form and accessibility being inferior to traditional schooling. Main reasons named by the respondents, besides the lack of accessibility are lack of individual contact and communication with and among the students and teachers, distractibility, decrease in motivation.
“If it is easy to learn without explaining the lesson by the teacher, then teachers would be redundant. I tried recording the lessons and uploading them, which is good, but when a child has a question, they are unable to ask me in that box and I am also unable to respond there. Every kid is different. When a student does not understand the first time, you need to explain in their words, otherwise they will get bored, will stop studying, which will reflect on the level of education,” – worries a teacher from Kakheti.
In addition, COVID saw rise in school cheating and decrease in class participation.
The main and sometimes the only alternative for those without internet is Teleskola [Teleschool] – national TV broadcast of lessons provided by the national curriculum for the school students. According to teachers, this format is “better than nothing” but since it does not allow for interaction and question and answer, it cannot be considered as something to rely on.
Based on the current situation, since no substantial remedies seem to be undertaken for minimizing the digital divide, Georgia’s schoolchildren’s education cannot afford another year or semester online. This especially concerns the vulnerable groups, who are already disadvantaged in terms of access to equal access to education and digital equipment or internet. The government has to promptly decide between providing safe environment for in-person schooling, with proactive promotion of COVID vaccination among teachers and parents, or risking losing yet another year’s education for its most vulnerable children.
