Protest of students left in front of screens

1.1 million students will return to schools this morning (Sunday) after about a month and a half of online learning in Zum, including children in grades 5-6 as well as 11-12 in bright green, yellow and orange localities. They will study for only four days, go on holiday for Purim, and return to class again the following Monday.

These students will join the kindergarten and first- and fourth-grade children who returned to the school bench about two weeks ago. However, similar to the previous closures, cThis time, seventh-tenth graders will be forced to continue studying in front of the screens in homes, At least until March 7th. If they return at this time, they are expected to study only 11 days until the Passover holiday.

A discussion on the return of these age groups was held last Thursday, but the decision was not changed – and this provoked anger and strong criticism among parents, children and teaching staff who are angry about the opening of malls and gyms before the education system. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein even admitted that “it was a mistake to open the trade before education, but it is impossible to do both.”

One way or another, the disappointed student parents – who have been dealing for a long time with the complex difficulties of such distance learning – go out to fight. This week they have suspended school hours in Zoom, and are expected to do so in the morning as well. This week the struggle will be exacerbated, when parents initiated learning at the TLV mall in Tel Aviv and at the Harel mall in Mevaseret Zion.

“Our goal is to illustrate the irrationality of opening the malls and leaving the middle school students at home,” said Meir Edri, chairman of the parents’ committee at the Jubilee Middle School in Mevaseret Zion. If it’s safe to open the mall, then I expect they will find an outline for opening the divisions. And if the mall is safe – then they will learn to zoom in the mall. ”

Edri, too, like many education representatives, pointed to the learning gaps as well as the psychological damage these children are experiencing, “and which will take a long, long time to repair.” His daughters, twins Ariel and Elia, who are in ninth grade, will study this morning from the shopping center.

“We are constantly forgetting our age groups, our education seems less important and we are not talked about,” said daughter Ariel. “We want them to take us back to schools. It’s hard to study in zoom, hard to concentrate. The system is constantly changing, there are disconnections and it’s hard to understand the material. In the morning, instead of meeting with friends at school – we meet to study at the mall.” She also noted her and her friends’ fears that they would not arrive ready for their next – and first – year of high school.

“I do not understand how to open malls, where a lot of people come, and in the school where you study in capsules and keep your distance – do not allow,” she said to her, “It is very difficult for us to study zoom, we have a lot of work to do, hard to listen. We do not understand the material. ”

Limor Leventhal, a parent leadership member of Givon School in Tel Aviv, said it was decided to hold classes at the TLV mall “to illustrate the absurdity.”

“Education is the victim of the Corona Cabinet’s decisions,” she added, “We do not understand the actual traffic light created just to close education. Our goal is to highlight the gap between opening trade and leaving children at home. We say ‘education does not stop in red’ exactly Like malls don’t stop. “

Amit Shatram, an eighth-grade student at Urban A, said the decision to open the malls and leave seventh- through tenth-grade students at home is ridiculous and incomprehensible, as she puts it. “Our school is close to the TLV mall that will be open, but we will continue to stay home and study zoom,” she said yet. “Last year I studied less than half a year, we went home to close and since then we barely studied and were home most of the time. I did not get to know all the students in class. “All the teachers. I have never met the Bible teacher, for example, in my life.”

She, too, like thousands of students, repeated the difficulty of studying zoom. “It’s hard to concentrate, there are disconnections and glitches, not everyone manages to open the camera. It makes it difficult on the continuum, I guess it’s uncomfortable for the teachers too.”

“Because of the difficulty of being in front of the screen, I draw in a notebook or solve a sudoku. A lot of students will go to the mall, it’s easier to get us back in capsules. Just because we are at an age where we can be responsible for ourselves – does not mean we should not go back to class.”

And on the other hand – excitement and joy among the students as they will return to school this morning.

Avishai Azriel, a 12th grade student at Yeshivat Amit Ashdod, shared: “We have been in a state of uncertainty for almost a year. When we heard that we were returning to school on Sunday, we were very happy, also because of the difficulty in learning at home and especially because of returning to a normal routine and a close-up meeting with friends and teachers. I very much hope that we will not go back to zooming and that we will finish our high school studies in the best way possible, both academically and socially. “

Tamar Engel, a sixth-grade student at Gordon Givatayim School, will meet her friends and teachers in the class herself this morning, and she, too, is happy about it. “The last year has been very challenging for all of us. We had to study and complete a whole year of study material, and all this without contact and direct contact between students and teachers.

“I really miss the social gathering, which is a very important part of every student’s life at school,” she continued, “In the first closure I felt that the children in my class were losing touch with each other. In the first period I met mostly with my close friends, but over time we all found our way Both meet and learn better.

“I felt ignored by my age group. We, sixth graders, are old enough to be left alone at home, nor do we study for matriculation, so we are not talked about. But it is important that we learn too. Our future is important and we need that learning. I am afraid we will return. “Closing and distance learning, it is impossible to know what will happen next. I hope this time he will find a permanent solution and that we will not have to return to zooming again and again.”