Principal of the Deutsche Internationale Schule Johannesburg (DSJ) is immensely proud of how fast his school has implemented their e-learning infrastructure during lockdown.
Bachmeier said that the global outbreak of Covid-19 and subsequent closure of schools provided a huge challenge but thanks to the adaptability of staff and contributions of the IT department, they were able to switch to e-learning in the space of a weekend.
DSJ reached out to community members through a food voucher drive which raised over R70 000. The school’s parent council also sponsored data and delivered devices to learners without access to technology at home.
With the annual Schulbasar cancelled, they ran a food drive for the Guild Cottage and raised enough funds to see the organisation through winter. The school also hosted a virtual run raising R50 000 to help the school purchase PPE for staff.
Bachmeier said that though the school was able to adapt to tough times, they were also disappointed to see about 20 per cent of learners experience significant drops in marks despite increased support systems available.
“This proves that e-learning is not the right methodology for every student. Our staff also faced many different challenges of their own, increased working hours and adapting to a new way of teaching provided for some tough times.”
Bachmeier said that Covid-19 changed the way he thinks of and sees the world. “As a leading international school and as a learning institution, we continuously strive to improve our teaching methods. The discussion on what we will implement permanently from the experiences during the past months is ongoing and very exciting.”
Bachmeier wishes the DSJ community a well-deserved rest and festive season. “A big thank you for supporting our school in 2020. I would also like to take the opportunity to wish all readers a wonderful Christmas season.”
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