The Coronavirus continues to spread its torment across the world. Bill Gates believes that normalcy shall only return to schools in the next academic year.
The United States has become the next hot spot for the Coronavirus pandemic. As of writing, they have 464,000 confirmed cases, 16,498 of which have died, and only 25,343 have recovered.
The problems in solving the pandemic just keep on rising in the United States. They are facing politicking issues in the White House and Congress. As a result, the problem stays among those who are tasked to provide solutions.
Private institutions are solving the problem with the shortage of medical supplies. Tesla has committed to providing Tesla powered ventilators. WhatsApp is trying to curb misinformation. Google, on the other hand, is creating information hubs.
While one problem is being solved, Bill Gates sees another problem, specifically in the education sector.
Bill Gates sees low attendance in schools this year
In an interview in CNBC’s Squawk Box, Bill Gates said that there is so much inequality in the access to education among students. Those that are from the lower social class are left with no option for online learning.
He added that private school students had been trained and equipped for these situations. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for the majority of the students in public school institutions.
As such, he believes that the back to school attendance will be low after the lockdowns are lifted. At least, if that happens within the academic year.
He said, “I do think school will be able to resume in the fall. As for the current school year, however, he said parents shouldn’t expect kids to go back.
Access to the internet remains a problem
It was reported that Charter, an internet service provider in the U.S., has committed to providing free 60-day internet access for homes that have K-12 or college students that stay there.
Unfortunately, the philanthropic idea behind this didn’t communicate the caveat. Only those accounts that are in good standing shall be given free internet access. Moreover, after the 60-day period, the subscribers still have to end up paying for the same period.
As a result, many expecting families were left in the dark without access to the internet.
Images courtesy of Gisela Giardino/Flickr(CC BY-SA 2.0) and Pixabay/Pexels