VIEWS & OPINION


The road to reopening higher education


Comment by DAVE SHERWOOD, CEO and Founder, Bibliu


The UK’s road out of lockdown is looking ever more promising as pubs, gyms, and retail return to some semblance of normality. Yet there is one pressing question that still remains: why are up to 1 million university students in the UK only able to return to university campuses on 17 May at the earliest?


Like many, the higher education sector has endured a torrid 12 months. Barring a limited number of ‘essential’ subjects, most institutions have been closed to students and staff alike, and this has had a number of implications economically, socially, and education-wise. As it stands, students have spent almost £1 billion on unused accommodation, and a reduced final term adds further weight to those pressing for refunds on rent.


Further, despite the absolutely Herculean effort by educators to adapt courses for remote learning, the reality is that many faculties lack the resources and infrastructure to do this effectively. Subsequently, this has left more than a third of students unsatisfied with their academic experience and many universities reporting that more students than usual are asking to repeat the year.


Now that the dust has somewhat settled in the UK’s battle with Covid- 19, we know that a renewed focus on higher education is imperative. One of our principal initiatives should be to restore faith in the system’s ability to cater to students’ needs in this new landscape. Students have responded exceedingly well to the major disruption of their education and now more than ever, the demand for effective solutions to repair their experience is higher than ever before.


The pandemic has highlighted a strong need for the accelerated shift towards digitisation across the higher education sector. Lack of access to learning materials and digital content has remained a significant barrier for many university students. This is where learning enablement platforms come in. Learning enablement platforms bring together content management, workflow automation, and analytics to deliver millions of digital learning resources to students, on any device. By streamlining the entire process between thousands of publishers to students, from procurement all the way to experience, the future of learning can be empowered to be more efficient, effective, and equitable.


Learning enablement platforms have also been designed to optimise the wider learning experience for students, where they can be leveraged to track student learning via data analytics, better informing effective spending decisions for the universities themselves and ensuring students gain an improved learning experience.


On top of this, universities can deliver digital textbooks and learning materials in a way that not only streamline costs, but ensures content is more accessible and inclusive than ever before.


Universities must be empowered to shift from purely brick and mortar institutions to fully integrated digital ones. If the last year has taught the sector anything, it’s that there is no time to waste when making investments to safeguard access to higher education for all. We must also see the Government provide a similar package of support given to students, to ensure that their educational outcomes aren’t affected by their lack of engagement on the matter.


May 2021


One Thought Changes All: How a unique partnership is making school a safer and more environmentally friendly place


Comment by SUKI POWAR, Headteacher at Woodfield Academy


How do you keep everyone safe during face-to-face teaching whilst ensuring that the school community is not contributing to environmental pollution? Returning pupils to school during the ongoing pandemic requires a great deal of thought and sensitivity at many levels. Staying safe is the number one priority in the ‘new normal’. Along with social distancing measures, wearing face coverings is one of the primary means of protection.


Many reusable face masks can act as vectors for transmission of the virus if not handled properly and disposable ones are very detrimental for the environment. 1.6 billion disposable masks are thrown away in the UK every month. A shocking statistic you’ll agree. Disposable masks are made with plastic and will end up polluting oceans or in landfill where they take 450 years to break down.


Here at Woodfield Academy, we want to be part of the solution, not a contributor to the problem. Our school values are Compassion – Respect – Responsibility – Resilience and we incorporate caring for our environment into the way we interpret these values. So, we are very fortunate to have become involved in a pilot scheme that supports the safety of our school community while protecting the environment.


One Thought Changes All (1TcA) is a Social Enterprise organisation which distributes zero waste British Made safety solutions and donates all its net profits to charitable causes or school initiatives and campaigns both here and abroad.


1TcA is partnered with HeiQ a Swiss textile technology manufacturer. HeiQ Viroblock NP J03 helps stop cross contamination by blocking harmful enveloped viruses a breakthrough and kills bacteria and destroys harmful viruses (including coronavirus) within minutes.


We have the privilege of being one of only five schools nationally to have been chosen to pilot HeiQ face coverings with 1TcA having donated two face coverings to all our Year 7 and 8 students, as well as all staff - a wear one-wash one model. Before school restarted, we sent letters to parents explaining the scheme and how the children were to use the masks in school. On March 8th, we had an online assembly with the founder of 1TcA, Raj Kumari Byford and the Global Technical Director from HeiQ, Paul Middleton, who gave us more information about the unique nature of the British made, dermatologically tested face coverings. This opportunity added value and meaning to the initiative with 95% of our pupils wearing their face coverings from the launch – and not losing them! The 1TcA face coverings are reusable and can be washed at 60 degrees up to 30 times, before being recycled.


Partnering with 1TcA in this pilot has enabled us to educate our pupils and community in protecting themselves. The masks are about protection, social and environmental responsibility for the whole school community and are a valued vehicle for learning within and beyond the curriculum.


1Tca.com contact@1tca.com


www.education-today.co.uk 25


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