The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of Breaking Belize News
By Nuri Mohammad: For years I advocated for tablets in our schools. One reason was simple: I watched our children going to school every day lugging heavy backpacks filled with textbooks. Why carry all those books when they could be stored on one lightweight tablet? I have now changed my position.
Recent research has caused me to reconsider replacing books with screens. While the evidence is not absolute, there is good reason to believe that, for some kinds of learning, children comprehend and retain information better from printed material. Research published in recent years, including a 2018 meta-analysis in Educational Research Review, has found that students often perform better when reading longer or more demanding texts in print rather than on digital screens. The evidence is not a rejection of technology, but it does suggest that printed books remain valuable learning tools.
Maybe the problem was never the books. The problem was making our children carry them back and forth every day.
Belize is a warm country. Unlike children in colder regions, our students do not need to carry heavy coats, winter clothing, or other bulky items simply to stay warm during the school day. Yet many are now being required to carry increasingly heavy schoolbooks and supplies. That makes the weight of their backpacks even more unnecessary.
My policy suggestion is simple: retrofit our secondary schools with lockers.
This is standard practice in many schools elsewhere. Students can keep books and other supplies at school and take home only what they need for homework.
There is also a physical wellbeing issue. We don’t need to exaggerate the medical evidence to recognize that some of those bags are unnecessarily heavy, particularly for smaller students. Why should a child carry six or seven books when only two are needed at home that evening?
Government could start with a few secondary schools as a pilot. Install simple, secure lockers—possibly manufactured locally—work out the cost and practical problems, and then gradually expand the program across the country.
Yes, it will require a change in school culture. Teachers and students will have to plan which books go home and which stay at school. But I suspect the children will happily adjust to leaving that unnecessary weight behind.
Technology still has an important place in education. But sometimes progress doesn’t require another electronic device.
Sometimes the solution is much simpler.
Keep the books—but put them in school, not on our children’s backs.
The post Put the books in school, not on their backs – A simple policy idea that could lighten the load on Belizean children appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of Breaking Belize News By Nuri Mohammad: For years I advocated for tablets in our schools. One reason was simple: I watched our children going to school every day lugging heavy backpacks filled with textbooks. Why carry all those books
The post Put the books in school, not on their backs – A simple policy idea that could lighten the load on Belizean children appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
