Call for ‘blended learning’

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 31: The Ministry of Education has put students and their parents in a state of stress and psychological conflict due to the adoption of “distance education” without preparing the two parties for this new stage, reports Al-Qabas daily. Psychological and social experts and educational specialists have unanimously agreed on the tremendous pressure that falls on the family, and the suffering of parents because of remote (online) form of study. They stressed that this system imposed by the Ministry of Education as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has created problems, and psychologically impacted homes, adding that it has transformed the homes from a place of comfort and tranquility to an arena for fights between parents and children, which led some of them to suffer from a psychological breakdown.

They said, “e-learning is a successful global system, but it failed locally due to the great deficiencies that accompanied its launch. Therefore, it is time to gradually return to study inside schools either in full or through “blended education” which combines the traditional and electronic systems”.

A professor of Sociology at Kuwait University Dr. Jamil Al-Marri affirmed that the forced application of technology in education was not carried out in a positive way due to the many errors and problems as well as the psychological and social effects that this system has on parents. A psychological consultant specialized in behavioral modification Dr. Ahmed Al-Gohary said, “The adoption of the idea of studying online has a negative impact on psychological and social development, such as weak social relations with others”. In addition, educational expert Ahmed Al-Ghareeb said, “Many of the neighboring countries have recently adopted the blended education system such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and the Sultanate of Oman.