Home Schooling is the New Normal Amid Coronavirus in Hong Kong

It’s a challenging time which we were not prepared for. But it is also a time which is teaching us many lessons.

We are leading a very, as I said a new normal life in Hong Kong. 

(Photo: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan

I live in Hong Kong with my family and since the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, our lives have not been the same. The coronavirus started spreading its tentacles from almost mid-January to late January in Hong Kong. Well, that’s when at least we found out, officially.

“There is a new ‘normal’ in Hong Kong. And the new normal is wearing masks and carrying hand sanitisers wherever you go. You avoid crowded places.”

Asmita Bharadwaj, Hong Kong-based food blogger

All the public swimming pools, public playgrounds, everything is more or less shut. People are avoiding all indoor places. And we are basically spending most of our days at home, apart from short walks or hikes that we take around our house.

We are leading a very, as I said, a new normal life in Hong Kong which we have not been prepared for.

Hong Kong Tries Out E-Schooling

Due to the COVID-19, the schools have been shut for more than a month. So for us, as a family, home learning is a first of its kind experience. I’m sure it’s the same for most of the families in Hong Kong who are witnessing this outbreak. Although it’s not ideal, but we are happy that we are able to still provide some kind of an academic support to the children and they are not losing out on their studies completely.

How it works for my six-year-old son, Samarth, is that the teachers, on daily basis
upload assignments, which are in line with their curriculum. And Samarth and the other children are supposed to finish those assignments. It could be written, it could involve making a video and uploading it on the school portal.

And the next day, the teachers will grade it. They’ll put their remarks on it. And the parents will share it with the children.

The teachers are keeping them motivated a lot to get their things done. And that’s kind of helping us to stick to our routine which is very similar to our pre-school closure routine.

Home Schooling Has Its Challenges

If you are at home and the children don’t go to school, they are in the holiday mode, right? So that took a bit of a time to explain to them and make them understand that it’s not a holiday yet. We still need to get some work done.

I feel that parents with older kids, 15 or 16-year-old kids whose academic pressure is much higher are facing a much more challenging time.

It does take a little bit of self-discipline. You know when you are cooped up indoors, you can’t really go out and lead your regular life. It does get hard.

It’s definitely a challenging time which we were not prepared for. But it is also a time which is teaching us so many lessons. Patience is definitely one of them. Schools will remain shut until mid-April.

(Asmita Bharadwaj is a Hong Kong-based food blogger. All 'My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. Though The Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)