With the economies of the world attempting to open up and being pushed back into recess the issue of education has been reaching headline status worldwide.
Australia, America, Hong Kong, China and other nations are seeing resurgent Covid-19 case numbers. It's risky to reopen and it's risky to ignore basic safety protocols.
The Trump administration is insisting that schools open in spite of rampaging infection numbers.
New Zealand is fortunate at this point, with no community transmission, stopping the virus at our border. Schools and early education centres here so far are opening but home based, distance learning is still operating.
I know from my personal discussion with teachers that parents have been reluctant to send their children to school because the risks of infection have been too great. I agree. I'd keep my children home too.
The idea that forcing children back to school or forcing parents to send them because it will stimulate the economy is debatable and flawed. Putting people in harm's way is stupid. Surely a healthy population is an economic powerhouse. A sick or dead population is a liability. The hawks in the Whitehouse and Brazil need to act on that recognition.
Of course, this is only my opinion but what I will say is that remote learning, while tedious at times, isn't that bad.
I can say that because in 1962 my family travelled to the UK and Europe for six months. During that trip my sister and I had to work our way through the New Zealand Education Department's Correspondence School assignments. They were boring and it was tedious.
I was isolated on the MS Oranje for a month in middle of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in open air and sea winds with gigantic waves around us. The paperwork was about as attractive as overcooked silverbeet.
What was enthralling, and educational, was the experience and sights I saw beyond the tedium — the shipboard life, Tahiti, Panama, Florida, Miami, London, Edinburgh, Wales, the Isle of Skye, Paris, Bonn, Belgium, castles, cathedrals, art galleries, monuments and zoos. I had my eighth birthday crossing or near the international dateline. I only got one birthday, not two, but that was okay.
My point is this. Education is more than paperwork.
There were no personal computers in 1962. On the Oranje we were an isolated bubble floating on a vast ocean and life was tactile and colourful. In 1962 New Zealand television was in its infancy.
My father was, at the time, senior television producer for WNTV1 and he was seconded to the BBC to train in its advanced techniques. He also had a brief to visit artists and crafts people throughout the UK. As a result we saw cottage industries of all descriptions including some notable and famous names.
I went to school in London for several weeks while my father was with the BBC, then we travelled by car, camping throughout the UK and continent. I suppose the Correspondence School assignments took a bit of a back seat role with so much else going on.
When I finally returned to my school in Stokes Valley I seemed to be a couple of years ahead of my peers and I attribute that to being given life experience outside the classroom.
I think the current pandemic can provide opportunities for new ways of education. This will probably mean hard work and unfamiliar experiences for pupils, parents and teachers but the rewards, in the end, can be very healthy.