LOUISVILLE, Ky. — COVID-19 has derailed the landscape of education in the US. The education system is under tremendous pressure to provide quality education for all.
What You Need To Know
- Pandemic is causing serious concerns about the education of children
- Cardinal Education is a tutoring service and believes middle and high schoolers may suffer most
- STEM courses are critical for applying to colleges and a gap could cause issues
- Parents might want to consider options to help children learn if their classes are all online
“There are some very real concerns among educations and professional bodies,” said Allen Koh, the CEO of Cardinal Education. “We are really worried about math discouragement. If they get discouraged at math, that tends to be a permanent thing.”
Koh has worked one-on-one with students for decades. He has analyzed that many families should consider repeating a year — either this year or next — as most teachers are not able to deliver a full curriculum during the coronavirus pandemic. Koh worries that this generation of children will end up being uncompetitive compared to the rest of the world.
“As the economy gets tougher you want to upgrade your skills to be competitive with the job market,” said Koh. “Children will have the rest of their lifetime when they have to compete against people who never had to deal with COVID.”
Koh said middle and high school students are the groups he’s most worried about suffering from an education gap. STEM subjects are crucial when applying to colleges. He encourages families to seek out other families to help create study and support groups to help supplement NTI instruction.
’The number one thing we are encouraging families to do is to create a ‘quaranteam’ with other families who have similar values,” he said.
Local non-profit groups like I Would Rather Be Reading have committed resources to help families and students adjust to when they return to school.
“Coming back will definitely be an adjustment for them because summer slide is going to be amplified for all students especially for our kiddos who are already having some issues learning how to read and write,” said Ally Ogle, the Chief Development Officer at I Would Rather Be Reading.
Ogle said families should consider Koh’s recommendation about repeating a year. But, ultimately it’ll be a case by case situation.
“Kids are resilient and they are naturally curious, I have faith in our students that once they are able to go back to normal school, they can thrive."