Pandemic-Era Online Schooling Exposes Big Balkan Disparities

For often antiquated education systems and frequently IT-shy teachers in the Balkans, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant a sharp, sometimes impossible learning curve as schools embark almost overnight on an e-learning experiment that has exposed huge disparities between and within countries, between private and public schools and cities and villages in terms in knowledge and resources.

Many teachers, pupils and parents alike have been left grappling with unfamiliar software, outdated or non-existent hardware and, in many cases, unreliable Internet connections. Some children find themselves excluded entirely.

Illustration photo: Juraj Varga from Pixabay

For the tech savvy, not such a big leap

For some, the experience has not been too bad.

"We didn't have any problems except for a few connection issues," said Berfu Sengelirler, a biology teacher in a private high school in the Turkish city of Istanbul. The school, she said, was making use of every IT tool available and managing to keep classes interactive.

"Since our school is private, computers, tablets or smartphones are affordable for our students," Sengelirler told BIRN. While not perfect, she said, the online classes were "the best under such circumstances."

Likewise, in the university city of Lasi in northeastern Romania, tech buff Dan Zaharia, the editor of a monthly IT magazine, said his daughters, aged 12 and 16, had adapted well, particularly given their schools had prior experience with online learning tools.

The 16-year-old's school has already been using tools such as Google Classroom for homework for two years.

"They have adapted very well," Zaharia told BIRN, "and they even make the usual kid jokes, placing a background...