Disruption: School Closures

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to design digital workplaces or “offices in the cloud.” These environments enable companies to allow flexible and remote working for their teams. I also teach the digital literacy, fluency, communication and collaboration skills needed to work in these modern technology-rich workplaces.

Many countries in East Asia have closed their schools in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19

Hong Kong – schools closed
China – many schools closed
South Korea – schools closed
Vietnam – schools closed
Japan -schools closed

Iran – schools closed
UAE – closing all schools

In France 120 schools have closed
Italy -some schools closed
UK – some schools closed temporarily

US – planning school closures

The immediate impact on this is who cares for children while they are at home? For the older ones this isn’t really a problem and for them in many cases classes are continuing via Skype/Zoom.

For the little ones it means parents need to stay home – requiring parents to work from home and care for their small children. This is a really difficult situation for parents, and single parents particularly.

How would you cope if your child’s school was closed? Many businesses are encouraged to activate their business continuity plan (ie allowing staff to work from home) in tandem with school closures.

What’s your plan?