#I want to go to school. With this hashtag, five students draw attention to the shortcomings of corona digitized education. Together with student unions ASVA, SRVU and the National Student Union, they are organizing a demonstration on Museumplein this Friday.
Being locked in front of a screen in a room for weeks on end. According to ASVA chairman Maarten van Dorp, this is the fate of many students, now that at least seventy percent of physical education takes place online. Besides the fact that this is not optimal for mental health, he argues, it is disastrous for the quality of education.
“We watched it for four weeks,” says Humanistics student Joshua de Roos of action group #ikwil naarschool. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, he has been committed to physical education. In June, the group launched an action against an imminent travel ban for students in public transport, this week it is the turn of the online lectures. “Now that the new school year has been underway for a month, it becomes clear that something has to change.”
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Because try to concentrate during a blocky PowerPoint presentation via a bad internet connection, Van Dorp agrees. Or to ask a spontaneous question to your teacher via Zoom. “Mutual sparring about the material is no longer there either.”
To reinforce their message, the initiators are calling on students from secondary vocational education, higher vocational education and university education to come to Museumplein on Fridays. To ensure that it does not get too busy, student associations are asked to send one emissary.
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How should more physical education be realized now that the number of corona infections is increasing again? According to Van Dorp, various possibilities for corona-proof education remain unused. “Theaters, conference halls and other event locations are empty throughout the city. They are perfect for one-and-a-half meter education. You can easily give a lecture in Carré. ”
The demonstrators are aware that hiring a room like Carré is not free. They believe that the government must step in to make this plan come true. “Not only to support education, but also to help the cultural sector that is now in decline,” says De Roos. “It seems like a win-win situation to us.”
Moreover, the lectures could actually help contain the virus, Van Dorp thinks. Because if you keep students away from the lecture halls, they will visit each other in different settings. “There the chance is much greater that corona rules are not being complied with.”
