Role model: Germany? How ed-tech companies can support the fight against learning loss during the pandemic
To help counteract the effects of school closures during the pandemic, the recently founded initiative of digital education providers in Germany (consisting of 15 renowned ed-tech providers) is offering their support and cooperation to the Federal Ministry of Education. Together, we want to initiate a round table with governmental stakeholders to find solutions against the education deficits in Germany, together! GoStudent, as a part of this initiative, is offering 5 million online-tutoring hours at cost price. Can this initiative in Germany become a role model to fight educational loss in Europe?
I, like many others, am concerned about the physical and mental effects of school closures on adolescents during the pandemic. According to UNESCO, an estimated 1,445,019,466 children worldwide have had their education disrupted. According to estimates by the German Ministry of Education, around 25 percent of pupils have been struggling with large learning gaps since Corona. The Ifo Institute states that students have missed 400 to 600 lessons since the beginning of the pandemic in Germany. These are shocking figures and we need to stop this negative trend immediately!
Also, we truly believe that traditional education systems and processes as we know them, won’t be able to fix some of the issues now created alone. Education start-ups are agile and are capable of working flexibly and possess the expertise of using digital tools for teaching and as a result, need to be involved in discussions.
Though it will be difficult to judge the true impact that full-time distance learning has had on the younger generation until later down the line, we know from our own conducted surveys, that at least 60 percent of parents have seen a performance decline with their own children in school. This is why GoStudent is committed to being part of the solution.
Though a study conducted by the German Institute of Economics in March 2021 showed that the costs of fighting the educational deficits in Germany alone are close to 1.5 billion Euros, we are confident that our offer (which will enable at least 50,000 students to receive a 100 free hours worth of tutoring sessions), will have a positive impact on closing the educational gaps.
In a time, where traditional education systems are facing challenges, it’s up to the frontrunners of edtech, which have the advantage of being agile and flexible, to bring in their expertise and contribute their knowledge. In my opinion, the pandemic may have changed the face of education forever and if digitalization is the future, it is also our responsibility! The initiative of digital education providers in Germany can become a role model for all countries that are currently trying to find solutions for those experiencing learning loss. For this to work, companies that would naturally be in competition with each other have to forget the rivalry for a moment and unite for the common, bigger cause.
I hope that governments all over the world will begin actively consulting with edtech companies when looking forward and that other industry leaders will be encouraged to work together for a brighter future, by also supporting the initiative, for example. I would like to thank the following German companies for jointly founding the initiative of German digital education providers and hope that together we can make a big difference: giving children access to the education they need, regardless of the pandemic.
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3 年Very nicely articulated Felix Ohswald