Gokseong-gun's Non-Face-to-Face Adult Literacy Education Draws Attention Amid COVID-19 Situation

Even If the Teacher Can't Come, the Learning Package Goes Home

[Gokseong=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 9th that it will operate adult literacy education in a non-face-to-face manner.

Gokseong-gun has been steadily conducting adult literacy education for elderly residents who missed learning opportunities, but the education was suspended in February due to the rapid spread of COVID-19.

Recently, as the social distancing level was lowered, senior centers and village halls reopened, but considering the safety of elderly residents who are at high risk of disease, communal meals and programs are still difficult to operate.

However, adult literacy teachers in Gokseong-gun agreed that learning should no longer be interrupted and decided to operate adult literacy education in a non-face-to-face manner.

Gokseong-gun and the adult literacy teachers deliberated various non-face-to-face methods. Popular platforms like YouTube or online channels were difficult to apply due to the characteristics of elderly learners. After much consideration, they adopted a method where the homeroom teacher copies a week's worth of learning notes and delivers them to homes, and checks learning progress and provides guidance via phone calls.

The phone method is a much more laborious task than web methods that can broadcast to many people at once, as it requires individual guidance one by one, but it was chosen as the most suitable non-face-to-face education method for elderly learners in terms of operation and method.

Learners welcomed the restarted adult literacy education with bright smiles, saying they could ask about each other's well-being and receive new learning materials once a week.

A resident A participating in adult literacy education said, “Even while the education was suspended, I consistently studied Korean by writing a diary at home and waited for the adult literacy class to reopen,” expressing delight.

A county official said, “We hope that the non-face-to-face adult literacy education conducted this time will satisfy both the safety and learning desires of the elderly,” and added, “We will decide whether to operate non-face-to-face next year depending on the COVID-19 situation.”

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