Gwangju Area Teachers Put All Efforts into Closing Student Achievement Gaps Amid COVID-19 Crisis

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Teachers in the Gwangju area are putting all their efforts into closing the academic achievement gap among students caused by COVID-19.

According to the Gwangju Eastern Office of Education on the 13th, concerns about the academic achievement gap among students have intensified due to the prolonged remote classes caused by COVID-19, and teachers in the Gwangju area have taken various approaches to address this gap.

Ildong Elementary School has been consistently conducting counseling activities during the remote class period. Homeroom teachers visited the homes of students struggling with classes or had them attend school individually to provide guidance.

Additionally, during the summer vacation, they conducted basic academic support activities (4 teams, 29 students), which received great responses from students and parents.

Kim Kyungja, a teacher at Seoil Elementary School, received a text message from a parent saying, "Thanks to the teacher, I was surprised to see my child solving math worksheets on their own."

Teacher Kim conducted online interactive classes using webcams and document cameras for students needing academic help, distributed worksheets during the summer vacation, and encouraged students by phone. Through these efforts, students did not lose interest and motivation in learning even in a non-face-to-face class environment.

At Ochi Elementary School, supplementary subject learning guidance was provided for students struggling with basic and subject learning by class. The supplementary subject learning guidance was conducted face-to-face during the remote class period to ensure learning could occur through interaction with students, maintaining social distancing by separating spaces into one-on-one or small groups.

In particular, to support students' psychological and emotional needs, counseling activities linked with community organizations such as local children's centers were supported, and for special class students, face-to-face guidance and distribution of learning kits were provided to support remote classes.

Munheung Elementary School, through staff consultations, provided face-to-face guidance for students with basic learning difficulties during the remote class period with parental consent and strengthened communication between home and school using online programs.

They also created and utilized learning record books to efficiently apply math calculation worksheets and online learning to improve basic academic skills.

Furthermore, many schools are making efforts to resolve educational disparities by providing immediate phone counseling to help solve problems individually so that basic academic deficiencies do not worsen due to prolonged remote classes, or by homeroom teachers providing direct guidance in classrooms.

Kim Cheolho, Director of the Eastern Office of Education, said, "Now is the time to gather the wisdom and insight of all of us, not just myself," and added, "I express my respect and gratitude to the teachers who are thinking and working hard to close the academic achievement gap according to each school's situation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.