What does education look like in the ultra-Orthodox city of Beitar Illit during a prolonged period of emergency? When the COVID-19 outbreak began, only one educational institution in the city switched to online learning.
All other institutions knew they needed to keep up their respective learning routines, but the scale of the challenge required creative and effective solutions for managing a regular education system in homes blessed with many children but lacking computers and internet connections.
The education department’s task was not simple, but with a swift preparation process lasting less than one week, the various institutions set up a dedicated remote learning education system: instead of Zooming on computers, they used kosher phones. Children could use their phones to join voice-based sessions for personal conversations with their teacher while listening to recorded classes.
This method proved to be a rapid, high quality solution for thousands of students in Beitar Illit. But we knew that there were still hundreds of students caught in the middle who were not participating in the phone-based sessions for all kinds of educational, emotional and/or social reasons. These 300 students were defined as being at-risk of covert or overt dropout, as they had been left without educational frameworks even before COVID-19 hit. Some of these students found themselves alone with no educational framework to support and guide them in these challenging and sensitive times.
King Solomon, considered the wisest of all, had provided the solution for times of crisis such as these when he said that the best advice is to obviously receive advice. As he said, “In the multitude of counselors, there is safety”. I called a resident of the city, Menachem Bombach, the head of the Netzach education network and a MAOZ Network member. I outlined the challenge for him and asked for his advice.
We realized that the first thing to do was technical: reconnect these students to learning. So through fast collaboration, the charity set up a platform for dedicated distance learning. We raised funds to purchase equipment for students who needed it. We came to their doors, and every student who received equipment was also paired with an adult mentor to guide them and act as a point of contact during this period, while supporting their continued learning and narrowing the educational gaps.
Through this joint effort, we managed to retain a large number of students within a learning routine. An unusual routine, admittedly, bzut within a clear framework, which is so important, as we all know.
The challenges didn’t stop there. When I received my phone bill for the first month, I couldn’t believe my eyes: my own personal phone bill had come out to 1,000 shekels. And I wasn’t alone. All the families whose children were connected to domestic phone lines received bills for thousands of shekels.
Infrastructure collapsed pretty fast as well. We had always had phone reception issues in Beitar Illit, and now with so much activity on so many lines, the infrastructure was unable to handle the load.
The crisis also brought up opportunities for collaboration. First of all, within municipal departments, such as the collaboration between the education and psychological services departments regarding learning via phones or strengthening relations with parents. There were collaborations on the regional level as well, as a phone line and voice sessions were set up for the community center, for communities and youth organizations. There was further collaboration between the Municipality and government ministries, such as the Ministry of Communication regarding lowering the unexpected high costs.”
All other institutions knew they needed to keep up their respective learning routines, but the scale of the challenge required creative and effective solutions for managing a regular education system in homes blessed with many children but lacking computers and internet connections.
The education department’s task was not simple, but with a swift preparation process lasting less than one week, the various institutions set up a dedicated remote learning education system: instead of Zooming on computers, they used kosher phones. Children could use their phones to join voice-based sessions for personal conversations with their teacher while listening to recorded classes.
This method proved to be a rapid, high quality solution for thousands of students in Beitar Illit. But we knew that there were still hundreds of students caught in the middle who were not participating in the phone-based sessions for all kinds of educational, emotional and/or social reasons. These 300 students were defined as being at-risk of covert or overt dropout, as they had been left without educational frameworks even before COVID-19 hit. Some of these students found themselves alone with no educational framework to support and guide them in these challenging and sensitive times.
King Solomon, considered the wisest of all, had provided the solution for times of crisis such as these when he said that the best advice is to obviously receive advice. As he said, “In the multitude of counselors, there is safety”. I called a resident of the city, Menachem Bombach, the head of the Netzach education network and a MAOZ Network member. I outlined the challenge for him and asked for his advice.
We realized that the first thing to do was technical: reconnect these students to learning. So through fast collaboration, the charity set up a platform for dedicated distance learning. We raised funds to purchase equipment for students who needed it. We came to their doors, and every student who received equipment was also paired with an adult mentor to guide them and act as a point of contact during this period, while supporting their continued learning and narrowing the educational gaps.
Through this joint effort, we managed to retain a large number of students within a learning routine. An unusual routine, admittedly, bzut within a clear framework, which is so important, as we all know.
The challenges didn’t stop there. When I received my phone bill for the first month, I couldn’t believe my eyes: my own personal phone bill had come out to 1,000 shekels. And I wasn’t alone. All the families whose children were connected to domestic phone lines received bills for thousands of shekels.
Infrastructure collapsed pretty fast as well. We had always had phone reception issues in Beitar Illit, and now with so much activity on so many lines, the infrastructure was unable to handle the load.
The crisis also brought up opportunities for collaboration. First of all, within municipal departments, such as the collaboration between the education and psychological services departments regarding learning via phones or strengthening relations with parents. There were collaborations on the regional level as well, as a phone line and voice sessions were set up for the community center, for communities and youth organizations. There was further collaboration between the Municipality and government ministries, such as the Ministry of Communication regarding lowering the unexpected high costs.”