In this regard, Thursday's episode (10/9/2020) of the "Scenarios" program continued the contrasting approaches of the Ministries of Education regarding the educational model that should be adopted in light of an exceptional health situation, and decisions differed between attendance education and distance education or a combination of the two options.
What are the difficulties and challenges facing the new academic year?
Is distance education the best option for the future?
The researcher and educational expert, Thuqan Obeidat, said that distance education was a solution to the problems of close education, who was accused of many charges, the most important of which was that I was primarily indoctrinated, monopolized power on the part of the teacher and limited student interaction, in addition to that 90% of school time was monopolized by the teacher.
He added that the interaction between pupils is almost non-existent inside the classroom, but outside it is overwhelmed by violence and ambush and creating alliances between students against each other, stressing that the world is heading towards an age of knowledge that is not compatible with the existing school in the industrial age, and the school in its traditional form consecrates hierarchical authority Through the flow of information, the student remains subject to what comes from higher truths.
For his part, a member of the high-level international body on the future of education, Abdel Basset Belhasen, considered that the initiative launched by UNESCO on the future of education came before the spread of the Corona virus, and started from the idea that the world faces major challenges and risks such as wars, conflicts, poverty and marginalization, and therefore it was necessary to rethink The future of education to be the locomotive that provides knowledge, skills and understanding to change the worldview.
He pointed out that the Coronavirus has deepened the fragility that exists in the education sector, which requires a re-imagination of the vision of education, changing the concept of school and its purposes, and investing in it as a public interest and a common axis that contributes to the development of society.
In Iraq, the head of the Teachers Syndicate, Abbas Kadhim, explained that there is a problem of the lack of adequate infrastructure to avoid overcrowding in the classroom, considering that the student’s attendance during the Corona pandemic requires the provision of a suitable environment and adequate schools to contain the specified numbers inside the classroom, in addition to the need for students and teachers to adhere to precautionary measures. Public to face the virus outbreak.