Top teachers negatively affected by the covid19 pandemic. Produced by Sofonie Dala, Angola

 The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge to education, public health, food systems and the world of work.

Our today's special guest is Domingas D'Carvalho, she is a teacher and at the same time a student. Today she will share with us how covid-19 has affected her social life.

Greetings!

My name is Domingas, I'm here to talk about how the coronavirus pandemic affected me!

Honestly, covid - 19 has affected me negatively. In the field of studies, I always used to go to school but we had to stop studying suddenly.

In the social context, I used to catch taxi at the bust stop easily, but now it's difficult because taxi drivers take small numbers of passengers, the bus stops are crowded with people without keeping any social distancing and also the transport stops circulating very early, before the pandemic they circulated until midnight.

In addition, not all taxi drivers comply with biosecurity rules, collectors do not use masks, drivers do not use masks and many of them do not use it correctly.

In the work context, I am a collaborator teacher and covid-19 affected me a lot in this area. In this time of the pandemic I am not receiving any income, because students in primary education will not return to school this year and I am a primary school teacher.

Therefore, until today, students from the fifth grade to preschool children have not returned to school and we, the teachers are out of wages.

After sharing with us the challenges she faces during the pandemic, Domingas decided to read a beautiful poem for us.

In the middle of this pandemic, everything was isolated

Although it was the joy

But fear prevailed

In these pandemic times

Hugs are a danger

It is better to prevent ourselves

Than hurt our friends

The coronavirus has shaken

Our whole society

Very fast spread

And reached all ages

The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating: tens of millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty, while the number of undernourished people, currently estimated at nearly 690 million, could increase by up to 132 million by the end of the year.

Our today's guest is teacher Inacio. He will share with us his experiences during covid-19 pandemic.

Interview with teacher Inacio

Hello! I am professor Inacio Dala. I am a primary school teacher in Angola.

The corona came to end the dream of many Angolans. Corona is a disease that came to prevent any citizen here, and I'm sad because I lost my job.

Since April to the current month, I am not working because the grade I teach is stopped, no one is studying, that is, students from the 5th grade downwards are not studying. Schools are only entitled to assist students from 6th grade upwards. This should not be like this, and it is very sad indeed.

We are ready to teach and guide our students but unfortunately things are not happening as they should. I have been visiting the school constantly on the scheduled days, and each time I find normal conditions that have been very valuable to students. For example, we have buckets of water to wash our hands, we have sanitizer products, we also have a thermometer to check students' temperature.

Did the school distribute any biosafety material to students?

No, in order for school to distribute, firstly the government had to supply the school with these equipment. We received nothing from the government. Our school is state owned. Meaning the school's safety level is low, it is weak.

Can you tell us what are the Covid-19 prevention measures that school has created to ensure the safety of students inside the schools?

We have a general rule that the government orders all institutions to follow. Before entering the classroom, each student must wash their hands with water and soap, the desks inside the classroom are already organized 1 meter apart from each other.

Could you tell us how do you feel in this new phase of post covid-19 education? How is the dynamic of schools in this period?

I'm not happy. Sadness hurts me because it is a disease that is killing lives worldwide. Although the level of death in Angola is not as high as we usually see in the European countries, but it is really very sad.

On the other hand, despite the fact that some students are studying, it is still a detriment to these same students who are studying, because today students study in phases, one week they are at school and the other week they stay at home.

Even the fact of staying at home is already a brainstorming for the students. Since the education in Angola is grotesque and weak, this new beginning shouldn't be like this anymore, holidays after holidays, when it is to study we must really study. But unfortunately, the disease forces us to go as far as we cannot.

After this long interview, professor Inacio told us that he is a gospel singer and decided to sing us a COVID-19 song in an Angolan traditional language "kimbundu". 

The COVID-19 pandemic is distressing the world’s stability and its economy. Angola is currently facing a study crisis similar to what several others are facing; which is not only impacting people's habits but also their ways of relating to one another.

Our today's guest is Miss Eulália Pereira, she is a Lecturer from Catholic University of Angola.

She states that, like other societies, Angola was not exempt from the economic and social impacts caused by Covid 19, the paralysis of classes showed that the Angolan education system was not prepared for non-classroom classes because there is a lot of difficulty in accessing the Internet and computer equipment on the part of many students and teachers. As a result of this students were left without classes and many teachers in the private sector were left without wages for the support of their families because the government is not giving any financial to private institutions.

According to her, teachers in this time of confinement should be empowered with new ways of teaching adapting to the new reality. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education should create and verify the conditions of Bio-safety in all schools before returning to classes and should also promote distance learning by creating technological conditions for it.

Bravo to all of the young Africans who are already creatively responding to the consequences of COVID-19 or other daily development challenges in the region.

Our today's guest is Gaspar, he will share with us the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on his life as a teacher.

Good afternoon, I'm Gaspar Estove, a primary school teacher. I would like to share the impact that Covid-19 has caused in our lives and Angola's populace in general.

This disease has brutally impacted schools and being a chemistry and biology teacher I was also affected.

The covid-19 created a tragic situation mainly for students, there are many complications and it is being difficult to deal with the situation, some have lost the academic year but we cannot lose hope because covid-19 is not greater than our God.

In the Book of Psalms 23 it says: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,

for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Therefore, I want these words to serve as comfort and let us understand that nothing is lost yet. We can still fight for life, covid-19 has come to teach us that we still have the ability to overcome our challenges.

Since primary education was the sector most affected in Angola. How has covid-19 affected your life as a teacher? Didn't it impact your job?

I witnessed it and saw students dropping out of school, it was very sad.

Many families were disgraced to the point that they could no longer keep their children in school.

This negatively impacted my job, I lost a double salary.

How did it affect the school in general?

As I said before, one of the biggest losses we had was the absence of students because parents were no longer able to pay for their children's studies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted even more the glaring injustices and disparities within our societies, and is giving us the chance to reflect on what is important to us. This is an opportunity that we should not squander. Instead, we should use it to recharge, refocus, reorganize and reinvent our ideas, to reform the status quo for a more inclusive and resilient Africa.