At-risk families await Education Ministry decision on remote learning
The administrators at his children’s schools have been flexible and sympathetic, he said, but the Education Ministry’s response is that remote learning presents a “privacy issue” and is forbidden.
By HANNAH BROWNEducation Minister Yoav Gallant holds a press conference at the Education Ministry in Tel Aviv, August 6, 2020(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)
A father who would be at high risk, should he contract coronavirus, is finding creative ways to make his children’s schooling work remotely, but the Education Ministry still has no solution in place for families like his, nearly a week into the school year.Eliyahu “Lee” Haddad, who underwent major open-heart surgery in 2019 and is especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus, has four school-age children and has managed to make their remote learning possible by working with the schools and even buying camera equipment to replace broken ones.But for Haddad, who first contacted The Jerusalem Post in August to voice his frustration with the Education Ministry bureaucracy, said it’s been an experience he calls “Kafka-esque” and that the Education Ministry has evaded making a clear decision on the issue.The administrators at his children’s schools have been flexible and sympathetic, he said, but the Education Ministry’s response, in correspondence that Haddad has read, is that remote learning presents a “privacy issue” and is forbidden. The obvious solution – asking parents to sign privacy waivers – would seem to be simple, but the ministry said in the correspondence Haddad saw that it could not offer an “official response.”Asked about the issue, which affects thousands of families that have a parent or other member who has a medical issue as well as families that have had to go into quarantine because one person has contracted the virus, a spokesperson for the Education Ministry responded on September 7 that they would soon release a clear directive concerning this.“Every direction they go in, they know they could have problems,” said Haddad. If one parent refused to waive privacy rights, that could create an uncomfortable situation, and it would be the same if most parents refused and only one agreed. But the coronavirus crisis has led to many unprecedented situations.Reportedly, many schools across the country are dealing with the issue on their own, privately, and allowing distance learning for children who have this family health situation.But Haddad said that it would be helpful if the Education Ministry would show leadership and make a clear rule that could be followed easily.“Not every family has the persistence and resources to take this on,” he said.
